Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere
by oceans realm
Summary: During Shinjuku's massacre, someone other than Kurono managed to stop Izumi. For the better or for the worse... Be aware, monsters. A shinobi just joined the game. Couple NarutoXReika.
1. Encounter with the Black Sphere

I do not own Naruto or Gantz, this story is purely for the enjoyment of the fandom.

I was searching for some crossovers between the Naruto and Gantz's universes and was quite disappointed to find that there was barely any fiction in the fandom. After some thoughts, I decided to write a crossover myself. I don't know if there's a big community willing to read a GantzXNaruto crossover though, but I certainly hope so.

By the way, English is not my native language so please remain indulgent on the matter.

Enjoy!

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere

Chapter 1 : Encounter with the Black Sphere

**** XoX ****

"Have a nice day," Naruto exclaimed cheerfully. "I hope you'll like the cinnamon bears".

A huge smile was stretching the blond lips in the candy shop 'Gama Candy'. No matter how much time had passed since he opened the business, he was still glad to provide such great treats to any of his customer. The fact the old man he just served strangely made him remember of one Hiruzen Sarutobi with his positive and generous attitude also helped in the matter.

Now 20-years old ‒he was closer to 21 in fact‒, Naruto stood at one meter seventy five centimeters tall. He still had his short blond hair, deep blue eyes and the three whiskers marks on each of his cheeks ─the scars were quite the eye-catcher and Naruto was sure they were responsible for at least half of his store's popularity─. He was wearing a single-color pale pink apron over a long-sleeved white T-shirt ─it served to keep his arms clean for his job─, a light blue trouser and regular white closed shoes.

"I'm sure I will," the old man simply answered with a keen smile. "It's not often I can satisfy my greed of sweets with my health and I planned to fully enjoy it. Expect me to come back soon!"

"Yeah. Not many candy shops make their sweets while taking into account people health's problems. Thankfully when I opened this store I promise myself that I would be able to satisfy any person no matter their food restrictions".

The old man approved enthusiastically.

"I'm sure glad you did!" he mused aloud before passing the door and finally exiting the shop.

The bell rang once the door closed and Naruto could finally be found alone inside the two-storey house. The 20-years young man sighed tiredly, a touch of melancholy gaining his sky blue eyes.

Four years already that he came into this strange but pleasant dimension. After having the Kyuubi extracted from within his belly, he later woke up in this new world. He did not know what happened to Sasuke and the others… The Rabbit bitch probably took care of them and they were each living in their own dream. Who knew, maybe the life he was currently living was a dream too? Although the Mugen Tsukuyomi had been supposed to erase his memory of it being an illusion which it did not. He was pretty sure the life he was currently living was real but he sometimes wondered. In any case, no matter how many times he tried, he never succeeded shattering an illusion if there ever was one nor did he managed to find any clue indicating how he ended up into this place.

He missed his friends. He got a good situation here as a shop owner and made few friends but none of them were really close. The fact he decided to keep his story and skills secrets from all had not helped but he did not want to end in asylum or on the run. He read the stories people here called fictions and it was plenty enough to warn him about the dangers of being an _'abnormal human'_.

After some more seconds of self-meditation and a quick check on his watch, Naruto decided to call it a day. It was almost five in the afternoon already and he was growing quite tired.

He went in the front of the store and turned the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. He closed the blinds placed to prevent the heat from coming inside and then pulled the shades at the front. He finally went to the air conditioning and set the right program for the night. Summer was particularly intense this year and he was forced to maintain a cool temperature to prevent the sweets from melting and/or deteriorating. He finally went to the staircase in the back of the shop, cast a last glance around the quiet room before clicking off the lights and climbing to the first floor.

The upper level of the building was his home. It made things easier living at his workplace and he really liked the location. Shinjuku was a lively place with many different people passing by. His house was right at the end of the main street and business was good. He did not really need the money, having stolen ─hum, borrowed─ a lot of it during the first month he arrived into this world but he enjoyed the job. He hesitated at first in opening a ramen stand ─Teuchi and Ayame would have been so proud─ but decided against it in the end. There were already lots of them in Shinjuku and he wanted to start something new.

He made his way to the living room upstairs, dining quickly before taking a shower. His living place was pretty casual but efficient with two bedrooms ─you never knew what might happen and being a shinobi required a lot of foresight─ a bathroom with bath and shower and a very large living room, probably able to welcome at least twenty people. The kitchen and living room were in fact one same space with a bar making halfway the width of the room being the only separation between both. Huge and comfortable sofas and chairs ─a couple of each─ were disposed around a wooden coffee table. In addition, a large bay window connected the living room with the balcony where various plants and a dining table stood.

In two words, the place was comfy but well-organized. There was no sign of Naruto's job on the upper floor, the desk he was working on and the kitchen to make the sweets being downstairs. Naruto made a point to clearly separate the two ─it was already enough living and working in the same place─.

After exiting the shower, he went to his bedroom, the larger one of the two in the house. He cast a quick glance while entering toward the door at the left leading to the sole room in the whole building that was protected with invisible seals and contained what was left of his past. Some kunai and various shurikens, the contract with the toads ─after coming here, the scroll became ineffective and he just kept it as a reminder─, his old clothes that were ripped apart mostly, the total collection of the Icha Icha Series that he never dared to publish here and two forehead protectors ─one with the leaf symbol and the other with 'Shinobi' engraved on the metal plate─. There were also various seals as failed attempt to go back to the Elemental Countries but he had already burnt most of them.

Naruto sighed and glanced away, his gaze traveling across the bedroom. A double bed, a desk next to a very large closet and a bedside table. The room was an image of the entire house, effective, simple and comfy. He went to the desk in the bedroom and took on it the sole book there was. He applied a touch of chakra on the cover to reveal its real content.

Since he came here, he decided to write down his story in something akin to a diary but with much more information about his world. He was afraid that one day, he would forget it all and think that all that happened to him was nothing more than a dream. Even after finishing the part of his shinobi career he kept writing about his days in this world, adding a line or two nearly each passing day.

For today, two short lines were enough.

 _Monday. The new method for cooking salted butter caramels is a success. Not as many customers as usual but it had to be expected considering the rainy weather._

Nothing major. Just the regular.

Then, he went to bed.

**** XoX ****

The week passed without incident and soon, week-end was here. It was a beautiful day with a sunny weather and warm temperatures. Naruto opened the store earlier than usual the Saturday but closed it at noon and did not work the rest of the week-end.

The sells had been good this morning. The old man from last time came back to buy more sweets, having greatly appreciated the previous ones. Some kids and many strangers also passed by and the blond took pleasure conversing with them. He always liked meeting with people with different cultures and learning their stories in a few words.

It was almost noon when it happened. The first sign were the cries rising through the air that reached Naruto's ears. The former shinobi raised his eyes and saw the second sign through the windows. Many persons were running in one specific direction in the streets.

Something was definitely off.

Two kids were still in the store and turned quite nervous regarding the situation. He ordered them to stay in the shop while he took off his apron and made his way outside to have a look on what was going on in the main street of Shinjuku.

The sound of a machine gun reached his ears once he stepped out of the building. Warning bells rang in his mind and he immediately noticed that people were not running in a specific direction. They were running away from one specific direction.

It was certainly not some kind of event to attract people.

He frowned and let his instincts took the lead. The ninja immediately sprung into action. He quickly went the opposite way of the fleeing people, following the sound of bullets being shot and cries of fear and pain.

While on his way, he noticed several people bleeding with open bullet wounds. The more he went on and the less there was people in the streets.

A minute after leaving his shop, Naruto finally came upon the reason of this situation at a crossway. Lots of people were lying dead on the street. It had been a long time since the former jinchuriki had not seen that many dead bodies.

In the middle of the copious amount of lifeless corpses, only two were standing.

One was pretty tall, a black coat covering his entire form and the machine gun in his hands informing the blond that he was the perpetrator of this carnage. Only his face could be seen, revealing his black skin and sunglasses over his eyes.

The other one was young, probably no more than 18. A high-school student perhaps. He had short red hair, brown eyes and particularly thick eyebrows ─not as much as Gai or Lee though─. He was wearing a large white jacket and a black backpack. Considering his posture, the boy was obviously trying to fight the other one.

It was courageous of him but also stupid. What could a civilian boy do with his bare hands against the might of a machine gun and without surprise effect?

Despite the situation, Naruto allowed a small smile to grace his lips. He was already fond of the boy and would try to not let him die. He was further surprised when the kid suddenly charged at his opponent. The kid was soon shot in the shoulder and forced to his knees before having the machine gun pointed directly at his head.

Naruto decided to immediately intervene before anything permanent was done. However, what happened next completely stopped him in his tracks.

The red-haired boy suddenly raised an arm as if he was trying to grip the man in spite of the distance separating them. Naruto's eyes widened with incredulity when the black guy began rising straight into the air, losing the machine gun in the process. However, it did not appear like he was doing it on purpose considering the surprise spreading over his face the same way it did on Naruto's. No, it was the young boy's doings.

Like magic, the red-haired kid was lifting the murderer with the sole strength of his mind.

Standing still, the Uzumaki could barely believe his own eyes in front of such a feat. Did this boy also had a chakra circulatory system? He had never met anyone in this dimension who could do something like that yet but this boy was obviously different from the others. Perhaps he was not the only shinobi here like he had previously believed.

It was because of his surprise that Naruto did not react early enough to stop what happened next. Still in the air, the black-skin guy had managed to reach for another gun inside his jacket. With an impressive twist, he oriented the barrel of the gun at his opponent and fired.

The boy did not even have time to look surprised before the bullet penetrated then crossed his skull. He instantly lost his focus and collapsed to the ground.

The man suspended in mid-air brutally fell down toward the hard floor and crashed with it. He had not been high enough to break something but he still felt the shock with the concrete.

Naruto mentally cursed himself for not acting sooner. He had been so shocked that he had not reacted immediately to the threat. Was he rusted as a shinobi? Or had he expected that kid to move aside from the obvious bullet coming his way? If he had been a shinobi, there was no doubt that the kid could have dodged the shot. Even Naruto could not track bullets but every shinobi worth his salt could have predicted its trajectory looking at the cannon of the gun.

The red-haired boy was now lying down motionless on the floor, a hole in the head. The man to blame for this carnage carefully brought himself to a sitting position, wincing all the while and then let out a long sigh. When he raised his head, his dark eyes finally landed on the figure of the candy shop's owner.

Surprise and slight panic reached his face. He cast a glance around, noticing the machine gun that he had dropped earlier and seized it. He immediately directed the weapon toward the newcomer and pressed the trigger to deliver a barrage of bullets.

None of the shot hit their intended target. In front of the man, the shinobi simply vanished. He blinked owlishly and a second later, could sense sharp metal upon his throat.

"Any last word?" Naruto whispered from behind.

The murmur was cold and devoid of any emotion, serving to bring fear in Izumi's stomach. Was this man another freak? First, a gorilla-type guy, then two men who could stop bullets with their bare hands along with being some kinds of telekinesists and finally this blond guy who seemed able to teleport? What was wrong with this neighborhood?

Were they monsters like the ones he remembered in the Gantz room? But he was Izumi. The man who reached a hundred points. There was no way he could lose like that.

With his free hand, he reached for the pistol still hidden in his coat and pointed the barrel toward the man. He acted fast. He could do it.

The next instant and before he could even blink, Naruto simply sliced his throat.

"I suppose you don't".

As a puppet whose wires had just been cut, Izumi fell to the ground, dead. Oceans blue eyes followed his fall until his head hit the hard ground in a resonant sound.

The shinobi inspected the kunai he had used to end the man and was surprised by what he found on the blade. Blood was on it, obviously, but there was also a brown coloration. The blond narrowed his pupils and knelt down just above the dead black man. He turned him on his back and expertly passed his hand over his face. His finger turned chocolate.

The guy's face was under an impressive layer of make-up. The shinobi quickly pulled back the hood and the sunglasses before removing the fake moustache and others cosmetics.

Under all the make-up, he unveiled a handsome white young-man, probably not much older than the red-haired boy who had been killed earlier. He had long dark hair with mesmerized black eyes. He had a lean but muscular build and was taller than Naruto by a few inches.

The former jinchuriki inspected a few more seconds the young killer and let out a tired sigh. He had been just a kid.

"Such a waste," he uttered under his breath while closing the killer's eyes.

He did not know if there had been a goal for this rampage or if it had just been driven by a mad teen. He was just glad it was over. What could drive a kid to do such a thing…?

Naruto then stood up and made his way toward the red-haired boy. He needed to confirm some things before policemen and others law enforcement officers came by.

He crouched on his knees, placed a hand glowing with blue chakra over the boy's forehead and immediately confirmed it. The dead boy had not had any chakra. Naruto ignored how he had managed to do what he did, but it was not chakra related. He searched a bit further but did not find anything indicating that this boy had been in any way different from the other human beings on this planet.

It was on that thought that something completely unexpected and out of the blue occurred. The body of the red-haired kid began to slowly disappear. The phenomenon started with the head but quickly spread over the rest of the body, revealing inner organs and red flesh in the process.

As far as he knew, it was not a common thing for bodies in this world to disappear after death.

Naruto grabbed the corpse and moved it with the intention to stop its evaporation. When he noticed that his own two hands that were connected with the red-haired kid started to disappear too, he grew exponentially worried. He immediately retracted his hands but to no avail. His body kept disappearing, slowly but surely.

It was not a disintegration process though. He could still feel his missing parts. It was more something akin to a transportation or teleportation, a little bit like a _Reverse Summoning Technique_ but gradually.

He kept a kunai ready for use just in case there was something waiting for him at the other end of the teleportation. This was clearly the first time Naruto witnessed something unnatural in this world. A few minutes ago, he had seen a kid lifting another one with the sole force of his mind and now, his body was disappearing.

His instincts and the experience he had gained as a ninja had been awoken and brought back to their peak.

The next time he blinked, Naruto found himself in a room with many persons around. The red-haired kid was with them and, despite being still lain down, appeared, inexplicably, very much alive.

Then he inspected the vicinity with a quick glance and his eyes landed on a large and perfectly black sphere.

 _What the hell…_

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****

I hope you enjoyed. I don't know how well this fiction will be received considering that the fandom NarutoXGantz is nearly inexistent so I hope to receive at least a few reviews.

Chapter 2 is coming in a few days. It's already finished but I need to do some check-ups first before I released it. It's a big one with more than 18000 words.

See you.


	2. Prehistoric Monsters

Second chapter already.

The chapter was written before I even published the story but I needed to make some last adjustments.

I hope you'll enjoy.

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere

Chapter 2 : Prehistoric Monsters

**** XoX ****

His back resting against a wall, Naruto was currently inspecting the room and its residents with piercing ocean eyes. He did not participate in any of the conversation but kept his ears wide open to gather information on what was happening. It had been long since the last time he ended in an unfamiliar situation but his instincts and experience were still there for use.

Thirty-three people had appeared in the room so far, one each passing minute. The phenomena had stopped approximately five minute ago and now, all that was left was the wait.

He had not learnt much actually. For what he had gathered while listening to the several discussions, nearly all of the persons here had supposedly died during the massacre of Shinjuku. The ones who had not perished in the carnage had died in some other ways ─disease and accident mostly─. In resume, they all had in common the fact that they had arrived here after dying.

He was the sole exception in the batch but had deduced that it had been more of an accident than anything else. The shinobi had simply not been supposed to end into this room. It was only the consequence of having been in contact with one of the people summoned there.

One of Naruto's points of focus thus far had been to catalogue each and every person around. Some of them had clearly stood out.

The group of four black American guys who was particularly loud in their search of the room. One very tall, muscular and overall imposing guy who was as silent as the shinobi, also observing and analyzing the situation he found himself involved. The red-haired kid ─Sakurai he had heard─ with the strange psychic ability who had joined another person he had called sensei ─he had not learnt the name of the man yet─. The young woman who was trying to hide into the ground which made her stand out even more in the blond's eyes ─she was quite a sight to behold and the blond had the thought that he must have seen her somewhere, probably in some kind of magazine of advertisement─. There even was a panda that seemed particularly quiet for now.

Strangely, he had even sighted one of his favorite customers, the old and bald man who made him remember of one younger Sandaime Hokage.

However, none of those persons was drawing more of his attention than the one responsible for most of the people actually being here.

The boy had also remarked his presence with a shocked expression placarded on his face. However, he had quickly dismissed the blond when he spotted the Black Sphere in the room. The moment his eyes had landed on the orb, he had not displayed any surprise but an intense sentiment of satisfaction and achievement.

It had served to confirm Naruto's hints on the matter. That guy knew what was happening here… so, his goal during the carnage had been to bring as many people as possible into this place…?

The question that was left then was,' what was this place exactly?'

Until now, Naruto had not taken any action against him. He was evaluating the situation and the different options at his disposal. The kid did not seem to want to kill any more for now so the ninja would let it slide a bit longer.

He had also carried out a thorough search of the house in which they were trapped. All of the doors were closed and the windows sealed. He had not tried to force his way out yet, choosing to observe the various people in the vicinity. So far, they were limited to the hallway and the large room where the black sphere was.

Speaking of witch, the enigmatic black orb remained a mystery for the blond like the rest of the situation he found himself involved. He had only sensed many electronics and even bioelectronics devices from within the sphere. Like the windows and the doors though, it had remained shut.

Several hypotheses were already in his mind to explain the situation. Something would probably happen soon enough. He doubted that more than thirty people would be brought into that apartment without any purpose for them…

"Hum… are you by any chance the owner of 'Gama Candy' ?" A voice suddenly interrupted him in his thoughts.

Naruto turned around, barely surprised when his blue gaze landed on the short and bald old man that had visited his store earlier in the day. He had sensed the man before he came close but had not expected for him to engage in conversation.

A small smile bent the blond's lips a second later. "I am. How are you doing, old man?" he asked with genuine concern in the voice.

The senior smiled kindly with a small embarrassed blush on the cheeks. "Well, considering I died some minutes ago, I would say I'm doing quite well. I'm Yoshikazu Suzuki by the way".

The beam on Naruto's face stretched a bit more. "I can say. It's nice to finally have the name of one of my favorite customer. Naruto Uzumaki," he introduced himself while extending his right hand. The old man shook it without hesitation, glad to finally find someone he was acquainted with among the numerous persons in the room.

They then exchanged some banalities. Naruto learned that Suzuki had also been killed on the streets of Shinjuku shortly after he had left the shop. Apparently, he had been one of the first to be killed and also one of the first to appear in the room.

The shinobi for his part kept most of his remarks as vague as possible. If his interlocutor noticed, he did not voice it out. It was not that he did not trust the old man. However, his instincts were on high alert at present. He would wait to obtain more information on the state of affairs before revealing some details. For instance, perhaps coming into this place without dying could be considered an offense so he did not want anyone to know on the matter for now.

The noise level in the room escalated suddenly and they both turned their attention toward its source. Another person was slowly appearing in front of the black sphere.

The thirty-fourth one. However, the individual possessed three particularities which clearly set him apart from the others.

Firstly, he appeared much later than the last person who had appeared into the room. Naruto had thought that the cycle of summoning had ended at least a few minutes ago.

Secondly, he was dressed with clothes that completely distinguish him from others people in the room. He wore no short, pants or shirt but only a strange black suit with a copious amount of caps in several spots, particularly around the articulations. His face was the one of another high school student with short black hair and dark eyes. He was average in high and look.

Thirdly, he appeared standing on his own two feet… he had been alive before coming there.

The voices started mere seconds after he came out. _"Another one", "What's with those clothes?", "An Otaku?"…_ However, they died soon enough, each person returning to their previous point of attention.

Only two kept their focus on the boy.

Naruto was obviously the first one. There was no surprise in the boy's eyes and the fact he came here a bit later than the others was also suspicious. Obviously, the fact that he noticed that Izumi was the second person to eye at him was also an eye catcher.

"Kurono," the slaughter of Shinjuku called softly with a thin mocking smile.

"Izumi," the kid whose name had just been revealed simply cast a look full of anger toward the murderer before going into a corner of the room.

So, they knew each other…

Before he could dwell more on the matter, something once again interrupted his thoughts. The silence fell over the group when a song came out from the black sphere. The song was a recording and not a very good one. It lasted less than a minute before a text in white letter appeared on the sphere.

Everyone around focused their attention on the affair.

 _Your lives have ended._

 _How your new lives will be used, is entirely up to me._

 _That's the theory anyways._

The lines disappeared and new ones took their place.

 _Everyone's been so weak lately…_

 _That's why I wanted to bring the strongest people here…_

Naruto frowned… This sounded more like a sick joke than the words of a god. Whoever was in charge of the communication through the sphere was obviously missing a case or two.

The lines on the black screen vanished once again. New ones appeared with a picture of one strange looking kid…

 _'You guys must defeat… Kappe Alien?'_ There were even characteristics, likes and probably the favorite quote from the guy. The information seemed useless but Naruto stored them in his mind nonetheless.

 _'You guys must defeat…'_ Was that some kind of mission?

Then, the message on the screen disappeared and the sphere suddenly opened up, surprising and shoving aside the persons in the way. Two closets emerged on opposite side of the sphere with suitcases and pistol-like weapons stored inside.

The smile on Izumi's lips could not stretch any further whilst he made his move to inspect what had just been released from the sphere. Before he could even reach for whatever was inside, the sharp edge of a kunai was swiftly put over his throat.

"Wh-"

"Quiet, boy," Naruto spoke softly behind him.

The voice was cold and unforgiving, sending chills along the spines of everyone around. It easily served to draw all the eyes toward the two of them. Izumi could not help but let sweat and fear spread over his face.

The shinobi glanced around the silent room, eyes landing on each resident before bouncing back on the serial killer of Shinjuku. He was particularly careful to keep the other kid, the one his target had called Kurono, in his line of sight.

He was done waiting and needed answers.

"You are the one who killed most of the people here during the massacre of Shinjuku," he revealed to all of them. Before they could even utter a word, he resumed his speech. "I killed you to stop the carnage. I believed it was the end of it but strangely, I ended up here with you and many of your 'victims'. I thought first that you were just a deranged kid who had gone over the edge," he simply commented, shrugging his shoulders carelessly. "It happens. But now, I'm starting to question my previous theory".

He marked a pause, taking into account the widening eyes from nearly everyone in the room. The reactions he got from the two kids, Kurono and Izumi, were even more telling.

"You wanted for us to come here, with you. I ignore why. Perhaps it is to serve some sort of greater purpose. Nonetheless, I think your victims deserved at least some answers before anything new happen".

Silence prevailed before insults were shot at Izumi from a few persons. Demands for an explanation or promises of revenge… In less than a minute, Izumi became aware of the fact that everyone in the vicinity was now clearly against him.

Izumi saw the blond guy restraining him raised a hand and strangely, everything turned quiet. The high-school student definitely did not like where things were going at this point.

"I don't want any apologies or explanations about why you did what you did. I don't care about that. However, you will explain to me and all of us what we are doing here and what is coming next". Naruto marked a pause an instant and turned his eyes towards the other kid. "Perhaps your… acquaintance, Kurono-san, can help you on the matter".

"Huh?" Kurono expressed loudly at his name being called.

Icy blue eyes befell on him.

"You clearly know each other and you did not seem surprise when you came into the room. If you're not one of his ally" ─he pointed at Izumi with the kunai─ "then surely you can inform us. Except if you're siding with the guy who killed most of the people here", Naruto ended with a not so subtle threatening tone.

The words were manipulative and the tone threatening. Naruto was not used showing this part of him he had developed during the war but considering that a serial killer was just in the room with his victims, he felt more than justified doing so. At least, it served to show how serious he was and not to mess with him.

Kurono gulped in unease. This guy was clearly far from normal. Even the fact that he was wearing his suit barely managed to comfort him in front of the blond. He did not hesitate responding though. He had been too lost in his thoughts earlier but his goal had already been to inform all of the people here about what was happening.

"Well… I don't know much in reality. However, this is not the first time I end up here. Hum… I died around three months ago and since then, I came here several times to accomplish a mission assigned by Gantz" ─he pointed at the open sphere to explain the last word. After a small pause, the blond guy gestured for him to resume speaking─"Basically, we are assigned a target that we must eliminate. It can be a monster, an alien or some others beasts… it seemed pretty random so far. We are bound to accomplish the mission in a certain amount of time. We will soon be sent the same way we came here to the place the monsters are. Ah, also, if we die over there, it's the end. There is no coming back once again. ".

Naruto's eyes narrowed while he pictured the entire situation. Assuming that the kid was telling the truth, it did in fact explain quite a bit. In spite of it all, the explanation also raised several other questions.

"What about the stuff in the sphere? Why did that guy wanted to take something from it?" Naruto asked. Considering the fear and anger he could discern passing through Izumi's eyes at Kurono's speaking, he easily deduced that the both of them were more enemies than friends.

"Well, there are suitcases with the name of every person here on it with a suit like mine inside. The suit increases the strength, durability and overall capacity. There are also many weapons, guns, sniper rifles. Normal weapons are no use against monsters so we have to use those arms to kill them. Hum… there's a radar to detect monsters too I think".

Naruto nodded in understanding. He did not release his grip on Izumi but turned his eyes toward the various suitcases he could spot in the shelves of the black sphere. There were thirty-three cases… one for every person except Kuruno who was already wearing the suit. A snort broke his concentration and he turned his attention toward its source.

"Humph, listen to the boy everyone. We are bound to fight against a circus in an otaku costume," someone commented. The guy's remark served to raise several bursts of laugher in the room.

"Yeah, I'm not wearing that ridicule otaku costume. It must be a TV show or something".

"Oh, that must be it. Those two are just kids. In fact, that one does not even look a bit like the guy in Shinjuku. All that carnage stuff was probably just a fluke".

A group clearly formed in the room. Was it denial, or perhaps stupidity? The shinobi did not know but he needed to stop this nonsense.

A small but sharp spike of killing intent was all it took to immediately end the arguing. In one instant, all froze. Izumi who had been on the verge of trying freeing himself broke any motion, petrified.

 _'Wha… what the hell! What's that?'_

And then, as brutal as it came, the feeling disappeared. Naruto hummed in the silent room before redirecting his focus on Kurono. The shinobi suddenly moved the kunai away from Izumi's throat and threw it at the smaller high-school student. There was little strength and speed in the shot and he was aiming for the shoulder so it was a non-lethal shot. Nonetheless, the sharp edge of the kunai would still be enough to harshly injure any simple human.

However, the projectile simply bounced over the black suit as if it was hard armor. Kurono did not even demonstrate any pain but only slight surprise.

On a side note, Izumi took advantage of the situation to step aside from the blond devil.

"Okay, I'll believe you for now," Naruto spoke out loud to Kurono, his quick demonstration having confirmed some of his suspicions and the ones of several other persons in the room. "Everyone, I recommend taking the suitcase with your name on it and putting on the garment inside".

At least, those suits were durable.

Some were quick to listen to the advice and reached for their suitcase. However, in the end, only eight persons ended up wearing the suit. The psychic boy and his sensei. The top-model girl who was eying at him weirdly. Suzuki. And finally, the four American guys.

Counting Kurono, only nine persons out of thirty-four were wearing the skin-tight black uniform. Many among the group had regrettably become more than wary of Naruto after his previous demonstration and the violence behind his actions.

The shinobi mentally cursed. However, he would not force them to take the suit. He was not even sure himself if that was the right course of action and truthfully, he had other things to think about than babysitting.

Then, Izumi went to grab his suitcase.

"Oh no you don't,'' Naruto simply told him as if it was only mere formality.

Using a bit more than his regular strength, he pushed him. Hard.

The tall student suddenly experimented weightlessness for a second before his back hit the wall. He winced in slight pain before his mind registered the words of the blond. "What? But I'll end up dead without the suit!"

The shinobi shrugged his shoulders, not really caring. "You killed dozens of people. I don't think your wants matter here, kid. Be glad I do not end you once again here and now".

Izumi glared but quickly composed himself. With a bit of luck, the blond devil would be teleported before him and then, he would go grab his suit. Otherwise, he would need to take advantage of one moment of carelessness. He did not require putting the suit here but he absolutely needed to take the briefcase before disappearing.

For his part, Naruto took his suitcase but did not open it to take the uniform inside. He eyed at the various weapons and took one of each. The radar, more commonly known as the controller, the X-gun, the X-shotgun ─that one was in reality more like a rifle─ and the Y-gun. Kurono briefly informed him of the names and abilities of each weapon, or at least the ones he knew about.

The blond had discreetly sealed away all of the stuff on a seal over his wrist except for the controller, keeping it at disposal for quick access.

"Whah!" a man all of a sudden cried at the other side of the room. He was disappearing in the same way he had come here and was clearly panicking. However, the cries rapidly ended when his mouth went missing with the rest of the head.

In the room, many persons became anxious despite the warning previously spoken by Kurono for something similar to happen.

"You should really take the suit, Naruto-san," Kurono told him while approaching the blond. "And perhaps a gun too… they are really powerful you know".

Ah, of course, the kid did not know that he had sealed away the briefcase and others weapons, displaying only the controller in his right hand. He supposed it was quite strange for him not to wear the bodysuit considering he had been the one advising the others to take it. The truth was that he was still doubtful of the suit despite its abilities and chose not to wear it for now. However, he was a shinobi. Unlike the others, he was far from defenseless against any foes and could afford to not take the uniform.

"Don't worry about me, kid," he simply stated. "I can take care of myself".

The dark-haired student hummed before stepping aside. After all, the blond could do all that he wanted, it was not his business to deal with. He was grateful he had knocked off Izumi in Shinjuku and even quite shocked he had managed to stop him for taking the suit. However, against the monsters, coming back alive would be his upmost priority. He could not risk his life for someone else. Tae was waiting for him.

Selfishness was human primal nature after all.

More people disappeared from the room. The gorilla-type man, the psychic kid along with his sensei and the four American guys were among them.

"Ah, hum, Naruto-san," Suzuki called for him, approaching from the side.

Naruto grinned kindly at the old man. Next to him, he also noticed the woman he had spotted earlier. They were both wearing the suit and had a single X-gun at disposal.

He took the time to eye at the girl with more consideration. She was wearing the suit so it was not far-fetched to presume that her strength and overall abilities would be a thing to take into account during the mission.

The girl ─more like a young woman in fact─ was truly a sight to behold. She had the face of an idol with amazing curves that many among her gender would envy ─her chest area was particularly impressive, not on Tsunade's par but quite close─. She was tall, almost as tall as himself. She had dark mesmerizing eyes and her dark hair was let loose cascading down to her bottom. Jiraya would probably have classified her as a very fine specimen of her gender.

She blushed slightly when she finally noticed the blond gaze running over her body but did not make any comment. Naruto was particularly glad she did not and returned his attention toward Suzuki. The miniature blush that had bloomed on his cheeks for being caught did not escape the old man though who internally grinned.

"Naruto-san, allow me to introduce you to Reika-san. Reika-san, this is Naruto-san, the owner of the candy shop on Shinjuku I told you about" he spoke warmly at the two youngsters.

Naruto greeted her with a warm smile which she gladly returned. He tried avoiding the sight of her curves but the skin-tight bodysuit she was currently wearing was not helping him on the matter. "Nice to meet you, Reika-san. By any chance, have we already met before? Your face looks familiar but I see a lot of customers every day, so…"

"Ah… I'm sometimes on TV in some advertisement. I also pose as a model so perhaps you have seen pictures of me".

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, that's probably it. I often watch TV at work when there are no customers. No surprise someone as pretty as you work in that business!" the shinobi commented with enthusiasm.

He then turned his attention toward Suzuki, missing the blush that took shape on the idol's cheeks. The old man mentally chuckled at the sight. It seemed that the blond was quite dense with the opposite sex. "So, old man, how is the suit? Does it work?"

"Hum, I don't really know yet. I did not try anything with it but it seems like my movements are lighter than before somewhat".

Naruto frowned. It had been a long time since he had gone on a mission ─or at least something similar to what was happening right now─ but he needed to remember that those people were far from warriors. They were only civilians. They wore good gears mayhap, but they were civilians nonetheless. Despite the situation and even if nothing was forcing him to care, he felt responsible for those people as the sole person alike to a soldier in the batch.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Kurono suddenly jerk back in shock just in front of the black sphere. Worried, he approached the kid and noted that new lines had appeared on the black screen.

 _If you don't get at least 15 points,_

 _You're a dead man_

Ah… the message seemed only intended to the young student but the words were quite worrisome. Suzuki and Reika approached from behind and also took note of it.

"What's that mean?" the former jinchuriki asked.

Kurono turned around, finally spotting the blond at his side. He sighed heavily before answering. "Well… I failed to accomplish the mission in the time limit last time so I was brought back here. I lost all the points I previously gained but apparently, there is another penalty".

"15 points… how do you gain points?" the shinobi inquired.

"Oh… I did not explain that, right. Well, it seems that each time you get the final blow on a monster, you gain a certain amount of points. I supposed the more powerful the monster is, the more you gain".

"… This game really sucks," Naruto sighed. "What kind of sick people could come up with something like that, playing with the lives of others as if they were mere puppets?" He marked a pause and then resumed speaking. "Is 15 points a lot then? And also, what's the purpose of those points?"

"… It all depends on the place we are assigned to do the mission. 15 points is not that much but we might end up fighting only one monster whose worth is less than 15 points". The nervousness in the boy's eyes was certainly not faked. "For the purpose of points… I'm not sure. Something is supposed to happen once you reach 100 but I never managed to get that much yet".

The four of them exchanged a glance before the shinobi shared his thoughts. "… I see. Don't worry kid, I'll help you gain those points. It's the least I can do for all the intel you gave us".

Kurono raised his head, his dark eyes meeting the blue ones of his interlocutor. It managed to lift a little bit of his anxiousness. He knew that people often changed their mind in front of the aliens ─promises repeatedly turned empty when a death's hazard was involved─ but he was still grateful for the words of the blond. "Thank you," he simply expressed.

Both Suzuki and Reika could not help but flash a small warm smile at the scene. In the room, only five persons were now left. The four of them and Izumi.

And then, Naruto's head started to fade away. The blond immediately prepared himself for whatever was waiting for him.

"It seems like it's my turn," he softly articulated. "I'll wait for you on the other side".

With those last parting words, his mouth was engulfed before his whole body finally disappeared.

None of them did notice Izumi taking the suitcase in the silence that followed or him opening a door that had been closed a little while ago.

**** XoX ****

The sight that awaited Naruto was not one he quite appreciated. He had thought he would end up with everyone but it did not appear to be the case. There was only the gorilla-type guy here and nobody else around.

The place looked like the streets of Chiba, not too far away from the Museum of Natural History. He had only come here a few times and even visited the Museum once ─suffice to say, it had been quite boring─. There were many buildings around, most of them part of the Museum with walls entirely made of glass.

The blond chose to approach the only person he could spot in the vicinity. The massive man was sitting down in the lotus position, something Naruto was quite familiar with thanks to his training with the Toads. He was sure the man had sensed him but he had not yet bothered to open his eyes.

"Hey there," the former jinchuriki simply waved, getting an open eye and a nod from the man. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you".

"… Daizaemon Kaze".

…Ok, the man did not appear much like a talker. Behind him, Naruto noticed Suzuki making his appearance. He simply acknowledged the old man before returning his focus on the colossus.

"Do you know where everyone else is? Perhaps they have appeared somewhere else?"

"No. They were here. They left looking for the train station I think".

Naruto gritted his teeth and hummed to Kaze. He sat down on a stair, waiting for the others to arrive.

Izumi was the next person to materialize. He was wearing the black suit and held a sword in his hand along with an X-shotgun and a controller. Naruto frowned but did not comment. The man left briefly after toward the huge building made of glass.

For all he cared, the guy could go die under a rock.

While waiting, Naruto inspected the device Kurono had called the controller. It could be clung to the wrist like a strap for an easier access but Naruto decided against it ─he did not want to be restricted in his movements─. Reaching for the menu on the screen of the tool, the ninja noticed three available options with the time left for the mission on top of the screen ─just a bit more than a full hour he registered─.

The first option was called _'radar'_ whose purpose appeared pretty obvious. The blond decided to skip that one for now. He would dwell more on the matter once the others join him.

Then there was the option named _'frequency'_ which purpose looked a little bit more subtle. Naruto chose to try it at a later date and ask Kurono about it.

Finally, there was the option ' _points_ ' which the shinobi touched with his forefinger. The screen changed to show the number of points the owner of the device currently had ─the points they had gained during the mission and the total of point─. Obviously, it displayed zero at present. However, what was also interesting was that there was another small window on the screen with a cursor that allowed targeting something or someone. Naruto conjectured that it was probably some sort of point checker ─if pointed at a monster, it would show the number of points it was worth for killing it─.

Reika appeared and soon joined him and Suzuki on the stairs. Naruto decided to forget the device for now and focused more of his attention on his three partners. Well… he did not know if he could count Kaze in the batch, so let's make it two and a half.

"We're in Chiba?" Reika asked while sitting down on Naruto's left, Suzuki being on his right.

"It seems so," Naruto shrugged. "I had thought that we would end up in some kind of fictional world… I suppose you can't figure out the situation before experimenting it, right?"

Reika slightly nodded before casting a brief glance in Kaze's direction. She seemed quite intimidated because she immediately returned her focus on Naruto.

She was quite cute, huh.

"So… you said that that guy, Izumi… he was the one responsible for the massacre in Shinjuku?" The top-model asked, receiving a nod from the blond shinobi. "And you killed him?" Another nod. "Then, why are you here? Did you die too because of some injuries afterward?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Mmh, you're quite clever under that pretty face," he commented matter-of-factly, inadvertently obtaining a blush from her at the compliment. "In fact, I did not die. I was checking someone's body who had been shot down earlier by Izumi when he started to disappear before my eyes. I tried to move the body to prevent the phenomena but it only ended with me being teleported as well".

"Oh…" was all she found to say. Now that she was thinking about it, Naruto and that red-haired kid effectively appeared together.

Finally, Kurono arrived. He immediately took notice of the surroundings and joined them. One full hour was left to accomplish the mission.

"Where is everyone?"

"They went to the metro station I think," Naruto informed while pointing in one direction. "There was only Kaze-san here when I showed up. I suppose we will need to take the mission by ourselves, right?" Noticing the sweat pouring down from Kurono's forehead, he asked. "What's the problem? Do we need everybody to achieve the mission?"

Truly, he had been quite relieved to see that most of the people had chosen to leave. They were only civilians and risks would probably be significant for them.

"No. But we can't leave this place because of the bombs," he exclaimed loudly, a touch of panic coloring his tone. His interlocutors simply showed incomprehension and only then did he remember that he had not told them about that piece of information. "There are bombs inside our heads. Some kind of chips I think, implanted the first time we have been transferred. It blows up if we try to go outside of the mission's perimeter!"

Four pair of eyes widened, Kaze having eavesdropped from afar.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed vehemently. "You should have said it a little earlier don't you think!" He ignored the kid's apology and quickly devised a plan to solve the problem at hand. "Reika-san, Old man. Can the two of you go to the others and tell them to come back here?"

"Mmh, of course Naruto-san," Suzuki approved, Reika nodding by his side. Both of them did not wait before moving toward the train station.

"Thanks. Now, Kurono-san, perhaps we should look out for those monsters. You talked about a timeline, right?"

Noticing the high school student nod, Naruto took out the controller before choosing the option _'radar'_ in the menu. The screen then displayed a map of the area. Monsters were the red points and allies the blue ones. There was also the border of the circular area in yellow line they needed to stay into.

However, the map was clearly far from being accurate. There was no button for zoom in or out and consequently, on the small screen displaying the entire area, it was near impossible to figure out the number of enemies or their exact position, same for the allies. There was also no scale on the map to indicate the distances so all was mere estimation.

In the end, the both of them slowly made their way toward the Museum of Natural History. They were just about to pass the gate when suddenly, Naruto's chest exploded.

**** XoX ****

 _A few minutes earlier._

In Izumi's mind, the first action to perform was simple. He absolutely needed to eradicate the threat that was the blond devil.

It was deeper than a petty revenge for killing the one who had managed to stop him during the massacre of Shinjuku. The blond knew that he was the one responsible and he represented the real threat for now. He was sure that if the blond managed in one way or another to make it out of the game today, he would either kill him or bring him to the authorities. He was nothing like that coward Kurono or the herd of sheep Gantz resurrected for the mission. He was a killer. There had been no remorse on his face when he killed him in Shinjuku and no doubt in his voice when he threatened to kill him once again in the room.

Things had turned out great until now thankfully. He was wearing the suit and had left the others without encountering any problem. He had taken with him a sword for the aliens along with the X-shotgun in order to accomplish the shooting.

If no problem arose, he would only need to kill the blond among the group of persons Gantz sent. The man was not even wearing a suit and had parted ways with the woman and the old man. Only Kurono had gone with him to where the aliens were supposed to be.

Izumi slowly calmed down his breathing and lay face down on top of a building he had found earlier. He took out the X-shotgun and coolly pointed it toward his target.

He pulled the upper trigger with the forefinger to lock onto his target who was displayed on the monitor. If his souvenirs were correct, he only needed to pull the lower trigger to shoot at his target no matter where the gun was pointing at. However, he kept the gun locked on the blond devil just for additional safety measure. He would not trust entirely his blurry memory yet.

Izumi breathed in and out. He blinked once, then twice. He was about to kill a man… well, it would not be the first time and the man had it coming.

Finally, he carefully pulled the lower trigger.

The shot crossed soundlessly the distance separating him and his target. Time seemed to slow down… one second, two, three, four seconds passed. There was still nothing… but when the fifth second finally arrived, the blond literally exploded, disappearing behind a blast of dust.

It was over.

Then, a cold metal pierced his right lung. Izumi found himself violently slammed face down against the floor and held there with tremendous force. Even the suit could not help him in the position he was forced into. He spited out blood. He cried his lung out for the pain that was clutching his stomach. Fear quickly invaded his brain.

"I could have let you live, you know," a soft voice whispered plainly into his ear.

Izumi managed to slightly turn his head, his dark eyes crossing the ocean ones of his aggressor. Shock and despair immediately came upon his face when he finally identified the face of the blond devil.

"You… Mon… Monster," he coughed in pain. The blood in his mouth was not helping in the matter. Had the man managed to break his shoulder? And what about the pain he could feel in his right leg?

"Yeah… I suppose you're not entirely wrong here," Naruto freely admitted, his face void of any emotion.

Then, the shinobi sliced his throat, using a kunai coated with wind chakra. The same kunai he had used earlier in the day for the exact same purpose. He just hoped that this time, the kid would remain dead.

The Uzumaki had to apply a bit more strength than anticipated to bypass the suit's defenses but it made no difference in the end. All muscles relaxed in Izumi's body whilst his head hit the ground, his eyes lifeless. The pure black sword he had taken in the secret room rolled on the side until it was stopped by Naruto.

Intrigued, the shinobi took hold of the katana-like weapon and carefully inspected the item. He swung it a bit to try the balance and was surprised to see the blade extend a few meters. It made him remember of one Kusanagi no tsurugi.

He took a few additional seconds to test the sword, analyzing the various abilities it contained. The katana was much more in tune with what he was used to compared to all of the guns. It could extend and retract swiftly and the material in which it was made seemed pretty tough. He did not experiment the sharpness of the blade nor did he try to coat the blade with wind chakra yet but that was something he would need to test at a later date.

Retracting the blade of the sword until all that was left was the handle, the shinobi stood up like a ghost. He had suspected Izumi to act that way since the very moment he came here. The blast of the X-shotgun had only killed a Shadow Clone.

The ninja could resist bullets but only with Sennin Mode activated. However, he doubted he could bear the shot of those weapons even with Natural Energy coursing through his veins. Those guns and swords were far from simple toys.

The blond sighted, casting a last glance on the dead corpse of Izumi. "Too bad for you, kid, but you had no idea of who you were dealing with," he spoke to the wind.

A moment later, he created two clones in a thought. He did not need hand seals anymore to carry out his favorite technique. Both of the replicas immediately departed, one heading toward Kurono while the other went to the train station where Reika, Suzuki and the others were supposed to be.

Left alone on the roof of the building, the original then vanished via Shunshin, making his way toward the Museum of Natural History. It was time to see what those monsters were made of and if they could handle a shinobi.

**** XoX ****

"I'm ok," the clone said wryly.

Kurono stood mouth agape, not believing what his own eyes were telling him. Despite the cloud of smoke that had risen, he had clearly seen the upper-body of the blond being blown up into pieces. "What… but. I saw you exploded!"

"No, the ground exploded and I was projected. Let's leave for now, I don't know what that blast was but we are sitting ducks here. Let's go inside," the clone explained, his eyes travelling from the dark-haired student to the entrance of the Museum.

Kurono blinked owlishly before nodding. He must have imagined that after all. There was no way the man could have survived the explosion directly on his torso… right?

**** XoX ****

Naruto had watched some of the Jurassic Park movies. He was not a fan but he still could appreciate a calm evening in front of the television. The films had displayed various sorts of dinosaurs, creatures of an ancient time quite similar to oversize lizards. That got him thinking about the Summons, particularly the ones of the Snake clan Orochimaru, Kabuto, Anko and Sasuke had controlled.

There always was a difference between watching some animals on TV and meeting them in real life. However, he certainly had not expected coming across one of those gigantic reptile, even less three of them.

Three elephant-size dinosaurs ─some kind of Triceratops according to his memory─ could be found towering over the blond, eying at him as if he was a mere snack. Considering what he had learnt about those monsters so far, it probably was an accurate way to describe the situation.

On a side note, he took the time to test the _'points'_ option on the controller, quickly locking the pointer on the dinosaurs. Those three monsters were worth five points each…

Suddenly, one of them came rushing at him with all its might, its three corns first. Naruto easily sidestepped the attack, taking the sword out and extending it to one meter and a half long.

The Uzumaki was not really a specialist with swords but he was no stranger either. Despite being better, Sasuke had not been a master himself. In the end, Bee had been the only true well-rounded expert in the art of Kenjutsu Naruto had ever encountered. Sadly, the blond had never learned his technique. He supposed he could try wielding seven swords…well, more than one at least should be pretty neat.

"So… we can't talk at all about what is going on?" He asked to the dinosaurs more out of politeness than real expectation for an answer.

The beasts looked to be rather strong. Fighting them in a pure strength contest without Sennin Mode would be near suicidal. It was far from being his intention thankfully. The creatures seemed simple-minded and attacked with head-on charge. Their speed was lacking and they had utterly no techniques.

When the same monster charged at him once again, Naruto simply jumped over its head and let the sword cut it into two equal parts. Each side of the Triceratops then collapsed in an impressive mist of dust after a horizontal slide caused by their original inertia.

Those monsters were also not particularly tough despite their external carapace, he duly noted.

The blond focused his attention on the two remaining dinosaurs. Then, to his complete bewilderment, they both stood up on their back legs. Their muscles contracted and strangely, they seemed to turn more humanoid than reptile. All that was left was that…

"Grr… puny little creature. Think you can oppose animal king… Grrr… exterminate," one of the beast growled loudly with a cavernous voice.

Naruto blinked in surprise. Those creatures could even talk… Before he could ponder too much on the matter though, both Triceratopses charged his way. It was the same head-on charge but this time on their two feet. They were also swinging their arms left and right…

Hum.

Cleverness and technique did not seem to be their forte.

Naruto hesitated one second before processing his next motion. There was no point making this fight last longer than necessary. With one swift movement, he expanded the blade and beheaded the two creatures. They collapsed on their knees before their heads consecutively hit the ground.

And then, two T-Rexes came out, each one taller than a small-size building. There was also a dozen of smaller dinosaurs ─three to four meters class perhaps─ that looked like hybrids between some huge chicken and a Tyrannosaurus ─they were Velociraptors if he remembered his last visit inside the Museum correctly─.

The shinobi sighed heavily. It seemed like he had found the monster's den.

He picked the controller and checked for their worth. The smaller ones were worth two points, the big ones ten. Hum… maybe he should let some of them alive for Kurono to kill. There were at least a dozen of those big chickens, it should be enough to reach at least 15 points.

The pack of monsters attacked nearly at once. Strangely, what came first was not a mad rush or a bite but a large ball of fire similar to a small meteor. The long-ranged attack had been fired by one of the big T-Rexes…

 _'Hum, they seemed to have at least some tricks up their sleeves those ones'._

The blond absentmindedly dodged the attack and went on the offensive. He cut the legs and tails of all of the Velociraptors he came across, his blade in his right hand slicing everything in its path. Naruto did not try infusing any wind chakra in the blade, its natural sharpness being more than enough to cut down his opponents.

He finally came in front of one of the massive dinosaur and escaped the jaw of the beast with a simple twist. He then carved his way throughout the meat head, his sword easily reducing the reptile's skull to nothing more than a bloody mush.

He released the sword for a moment to dodge the maw of the other T-Rex with a jump. He created a swirling orb of chakra the size of a basket-ball in his right hand and bounced down to the beast.

" **Odama Rasengan,** " the ninja shot, letting the sphere of energy totally wrecked the inside of the beast from its back to its throat. The repelling power of the orb served to preserve him of the squirting blood and only a few drops ended on his clothes and skin.

The fact those creatures did not even possess an ounce of chakra in their veins made them highly sensitive to chakra-based attack.

The former jinchuriki created a single clone and immediately have it disappear. Thus, the clone escorting Kurono would receive the message to come into this room and have the high-school student kill the various Velociraptors still howling on the ground without their legs or tail.

Then, he resumed his walk inside the Museum. The tour was clearly more exciting than the last time he had come by to visit.

He came across a dozen more of the big chickens and carved his way through the group, delivering only fatal blow this time. He took his time testing the X-gun, the Y-gun ─he was mildly curious about the fate of the monsters hit by that one─ and the X-shotgun on them but found the weapons too slow for his taste. He was quicker cutting them with the blade. Those monsters were no threat for him so he chose the fastest way.

After that small exercise, he continued on his way, entering the room for the aquatic dinosaurs in the Museum. He spotted various model of animals but none with a heartbeat. There was still no trace of Kappe Alien, the purportedly target of the mission.

'CRIIIIK'.

The blond leaped to the side, barely avoiding the claw of one massive bird. He jumped once again when he noticed another one passing just over his head, trying to pierce him with its beak. He was still unsettled by the wind generated by the pair of wings but regained his balance soon enough.

He finally got the time to take a look at the two creatures moving inside the room. Two Pterodactyls were flying around the fake animals, their wingspan larger than seven meters. They had both gray skins with distinct large scales, like an actual armor covering their entire bodies except for the neck and the articulations.

He did not take the time to check on the controller for how many points they were worth and simply ran toward them. He threw two regular shurikens toward the birds that were coming at him and, a mere instant before they hit their intended target, ended a chain of hand seals.

 _ **'Shuriken Shadow Clone**_ ', he mentally announced. The two weapons became hundreds, tearing apart flesh and bones ─the scales were barely enough to resist the piercing power of the shurikens─ and boring large holes into the wings that were holding the two dinosaurs in the air.

With their wings turned into rags, both Pterodactyls crashed just in front of Naruto. The blond did not even pause to check for a pulse and simply cut each bird in half with his sword. They did not flinch after that.

Then, he resumed his walk inside the Museum but stopped almost immediately. One of his clones had just been dispelled, directly transmitting its memory to the original.

He did not like what he learned.

**** XoX ****

Clone 1's first action was to self-proclaimed himself as N1. It would be easier for the original to process the memory's transmission later if he could recognize the source of it.

N1 joined Kurono and they both entered the Museum. The clone's mission was more of an 'observe and gather information' type than a fighting one. The mission of the second clone ─N2─ was to protect the rest of the group while the original did the heavy fighting. Shadow Clone could be easily killed after all so head-on confrontation was not really their field of expertise.

N1 and Kurono made their way into the building using a different entrance than the one the original Naruto had chosen. They explored another section of the Museum and spotted along the way many replica of prehistoric animals but none of them were the aliens Kurono had talked about.

They passed through hallways and went down a stair without meeting a single monster. The tension gradually escalated and the absence of lights and the deep but muffled sounds echoing some distance away were certainly not helping on the matter. They knew something was there but could not find its trace.

N1 and Kurono kept sword and X-gun respectively ready, slowly making their way across the various corridors. Finally, the clone received information from the original and easily conveyed the message to his temporary teammate.

"I think I heard something coming from that way," he pointed to one of the several paths they could take further ahead.

"Let's check it out," Kurono nodded to the blond, taking the lead.

Kurono made his way in the aforementioned passageway, N1 following just a step behind. The black-haired teen then heard growls coming from the end of the hallway and turned extra careful.

The sight they came onto at the end of the corridor was not one Kurono would forget anytime soon.

Many dinosaurs' type monsters were laid out on the ground, either dead or severely wounded. Two Triceratops were beheaded, one of them strangely on its knees rather than completely spread on the ground. An additional one was cleanly severed in two distinctive parts. And those three were only the tip of the iceberg…

Two T-Rexes had their inside completely exposed with huge gaping holes piercing through their heads, stomachs or backs. Bones, flesh and blood were mixed in an amalgam of different shades of red and white.

Finally, eleven Velociraptors were also laid out on the ground with their legs and tail missing but still very much alive. They were the ones producing the growls that had attracted both humans here.

"Wh… What is that?" Kurono could not believe his own eyes. Something or someone had come here and totally made a mess of those beasts, probably the monsters they were supposed to kill.

 _'Is that Izumi's doing?'_ His fellow classmate was the only one who could have come into the Museum aside from the two of them. Naruto had been with him all along and the others were supposed to be at the train station so it only left Izumi. _'Is he really that strong?'_

N1 shrugged his shoulders in response. The original perhaps should have disposed of the carcasses. "You should kill the ones still alive, Kurono-san. You need 15 points, right?"

The high-school student did not ponder on the matter too long before moving, blowing the heads of the eleven monsters still alive. However, the noise produced by the X-gun served to draw the attention of another beast from the interior forest of the building.

Another dinosaur ─this one was completely functional and intact compared to the other ones─ popped its head from behind some trees. This one looked more like a Brachiosaurus, at least ten meters in length. It was eying at both teens with curious eyes like a child would.

N1 silently cursed… the original seemed to have missed that one. Or had it come into the area after Naruto left the scene?

Surprised by the new threat, Kurono immediately pointed the X-gun at the head of the monster that was dangerously close to him. He hesitated a second because of the soothing face of the reptile but shot when it made a step in his direction.

Five seconds later, its head blew up in a splatter of blood. The Brachiosaurus stopped, faltered… but did not fall. In fact, his movements became seriously more violent, the long neck now lacking its head swinging like a whip up and down, crushing everything in its path.

Kurono was the first on its way and was squashed like a pancake several times before being propelled away. So shocked by the fact that the beast was still standing, N1 practically encountered the same fate but he managed to jump out of the way at the last second.

The clone cast a look at the place Kurono had been sent to and was relieved to see he was still fine despite being a bit sore and disoriented. The suit seemed to have done its job. However, the substance that was slowly leaking out of the caps did not seem to be a good sign considering the slight fear that crossed Kurono's eyes when he noticed it. The suit probably had a certain limit to how much damage it could take before turning useless and it had just reached it.

The beast was still wrecking havoc in blind rage, squashing everything in its path. At present, only the ground was victim of its fury thankfully but it would not last.

N1 prepared his sword, checking a dozen of seconds the timing of his target before springing into action. He dodged a swing of the neck and completely severed it at the base. He then grabbed the sword in a reverse grip and cut lengthwise the Brachiosaurus. Not taking any risk, he then sliced into pieces the mastodon. It was quick, safe and effective.

The Brachiosaurus was now no more than numerous pieces of meat on the ground, not moving a muscle. Frankly, N1 ignored what he would have done if it could still move.

Having been a front-line witness of the swift but deadly attack, Kurono approached the clone with widened eyes. "Whoa… that was impressive, Naruto-san. I suppose you stopping Izumi at Shinjuku was not just a lucky strike then," he commented with slight humor in the voice.

N1 shrugged his shoulders. "You could say that, yeah". He retracted his sword to the handle, cleaning all the blood on it like a magic trick. Those equipments were really impressive…

The clone leveled his eyes at Kurono. He immediately gasped, noticing the behemoth that was not far behind the kid. It was another Brachiosaurus but this one was far more imposing and larger than the previous one with two sharp bone blades-like-scythes over and under its skull. How could this mastodon of a monster have approached them silently and without the both of them noticing its presence?

The neck of the beast moved back a little bit, a move N1 easily identified for having seen it barely a minute earlier. However this time, the end result would be far more devastating.

"Kurono, step back!" N1 shouted while running toward the boy.

He grabbed him by the arm and threw him far from the attack's range. In its glide, the 17 years old student finally took notice of the creature a second before it swung its gigantic neck.

The clone twisted around, parrying the assault as best as he could with his sword. He managed to deflect the blow to the right, a very large cloud of dust rising into the air as a result. However, he could not evade the rock that was sent flying his way like a ricochet and hit him in the guts.

"Shi-"

He vanished in a cloud of smoke.

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****

Hope you enjoyed.

See you !


	3. The Hunter

I made some adjustments in how the chapters are set up. Instead of having one mission for one chapter, it will be two chapters per missions as well as two chapters per break between each of the mission. Consequently, the following chapter was previously held as the end of chapter 2.

Sorry for the trouble.

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere

Chapter 3 : The Hunter

**** XoX ****

When N2 came to the world, his mission was clear. Watch over Suzuki, Reika and the rest of the group who went to the metro station in Chiba. He was tasked not to intervene but would involved himself if any human life was at risk.

He made his way toward the others, checking at the place they had been teleported first to see if Kaze was still there. Apparently, he was not and N2 quickly deduced that he must have heard the same cries of panic he was now hearing. Human cries…

He received on his way the information about the various dinosaurs the original Naruto sent via another clone. The group of people was however nowhere near the metro station for one reason or another but the cries made it easy to find them.

He supposed the numerous dinosaurs surrounding them he could now distinguish were part of the explanation…

The group was not far away from another entrance of the Museum next to a large stair. Their number had been greatly reduced ─only thirteen were still standing and alive─. Several human bodies were spread on the ground, most of them having been torn apart by claws or jaws according to the wounds the clone could spot.

There were also nine dead corpses of Velociraptors but a dozen more were still standing and kicking. Along with that was a couple of T-Rexes that was descending the stairs, nearly upon them. Finally, the original target of the mission, Kappe Alien, was also in the area but stood a hundred meters away from the fight.

Running toward the group, N2 quickly analyzed the situation and then prioritized the order of action. Kaze, the red-haired kid and his sensei were apparently coping quite well ─at the same time, he noticed that this sensei also demonstrated similar psychic power─. Suzuki was also doing fine, having caught the tail of one of the Velociraptors to stop its advance. Reika was perhaps in a more uncomfortable position considering she was struggling with one arm trapped in the jaw of a monster but she also stood apparently unharmed and with no immediate threat to her life ─the suit was still working on her so far─.

In resume, his priorities were the four American men ─three were bleeding profusely and appeared in precarious positions─, the man with the cap and the girl's trio. For an unidentified reason, despite wearing their suit, the American quartet did not appear to benefit any of its advantages.

He leaped into the air and the next instant, he was next to a girl whose leg was trapped in one of the reptile's jaw. He twisted swiftly, beheading the monster and throwing a pair of kunai coated with wind chakra that penetrated the skulls of two others reptiles in the near vicinity.

Like a ghost, he then used the falling headless corpse as a support to reach another group. He accomplished a full rotation in the air and extended his sword, slicing from the elongated nose through the brain of a creature whose maw was firmly closed onto one of the American. N2 then reached the ground and with one full vertical motion completely sliced in half another reptile.

The clone was ready to keep on his rampage but stopped abruptly, noticing that the red-haired kid and his sensei had managed to kill one raptor each and were now busy with two more that were attacking the man wearing the cap. Suzuki had managed to crush the skull of his opponent and Kaze had simply broke one of them in two with his bare hands.

The blond diverted his attention and ran toward Reika, quickly slicing the legs of the reptile that was holding her before extending the sword for it to penetrate the throat of the Velociraptor and emerge over his brain. The creature dropped dead a second later. The young idol blinked, slowly meeting Naruto's gaze with her dark eyes open wide.

The shinobi ignored the gapping mouths from almost everyone in the area, stupefied by the feats he had managed to accomplish in such a short time. The two psychic users had just ended their respective target, saving the man with the cap. The four Americans and the girl's trio had gathered with the others. Despite being bewildered by the blond shinobi, their attention was mainly directed at the two T-Rexes that were approaching.

Kappe Alien was also slowly making his way toward them with his face twisted in anger and shouting words barely coherent.

On a side note, he learnt about N1 being dispelled but chose to ignore that information for the moment.

N2 turned around, his gaze landing on Suzuki, both psychics and Kaze.

"Step back and try to kill this guy," he simply ordered, his finger pointed at Kappe Alien. "I'll take care of the two big ones over there".

Not looking back, he charged toward the T-Rexes. Both dinosaurs had not predicted that their meal would come at them and were left quite surprised by such a move. It gave N2 enough time to chop the legs of the left one that immediately dropped face first toward the ground.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, N2 then leaped toward the falling reptile with the intent to carve its head like melted butter. However, he had to side-step the jaw of the other Tyrannosaurus that tried to gulp him and consequently only managed to cut a tenth of the scaly face.

Disfigured and crippled, the T-Rex on the ground howled in pain and rage.

The clone chose to ignore the severely wounded dinosaur and focused his attention on the one still intact and fully standing. He ran, passed behind it and efficiently managed to cut its tail before jumping toward the back of the creature. He landed on its spine and extended his blade down vertically to pierce the flesh until it emerged over the reptile's belly. He then started running all along the vertebrae, reached the skull and cracked it open like a nut.

One down.

He jumped off the head of the dinosaur while retracting the blade and landed just amid the two halves of the T-Rex. It was then that he noticed the orange flame glowing brightly from within the maw of the second Tyrannosaurus he had discarded a minute earlier and that was still laying out on the ground. His eyes widened, taking notice of the aim of the ball of liquid fire ─right on the group of people further away─ but already, the meteor was shot.

N2 mentally cursed. Okay, no more restraints.

The blond vanished via Shunshin, appearing a second later in front of the group. His hands became a blur, passing through several hand seals before ending with the Snake's one.

 **'** _ **Earth Release, Stone Wall,'**_ he mentally announced.

Without delay, the cobblestones just ahead of him raised to form a tall and thick rectangular wall. The sphere of magma impacted with the defense, digging a few dozens of centimeters deep into the rock but not enough to pierce the one meter thickness. N2 moved his hands into the Horse seal and put his foot on the wall he had just created. Then, he pushed.

 _ **'Earth Release, Bullet Rock Technique'.**_

The clone used the burning rock wall in front of him as a projectile and sent it straight ahead toward the T-Rex. The creature that could not even move was hit head first, reduced to smoldered flesh and bones in a mere instant.

The blond sighed and turned around. There were many stunned faces ─eyes widened, mouths agape, backs arched forward─ but he easily ignored them all. The clone had more pressing matter at hand at present.

Apparently, only Kaze had chosen to fight the humanoid Kappe Alien. He had finished his opponent some seconds earlier but the creature was not dead yet. It had foam around its mouth, eyes rolled back and it was lying motionless on the ground but it was still twitching.

The clone frowned.

"Hum… Naruto-san?" Reika called for N2.

She had an odd look in her eyes that were entirely fixed on him. N2 acknowledged her with a nod but she did not pronounced any more words.

He arched an eyebrow and calmly walked toward the group. Three of the Americans and two of the girls were wounded with at least a limb turned to shred. The others presented minor injuries except for Reika, the two psychics and Suzuki who seemed totally unharmed thanks to the suit.

"… Are you the only ones still alive?" The clone spoke with little emotion in the voice.

"Ah… it appears so, yes," Suzuki answered a bit gravely."Some have died after going off limit… Others had been killed by those monsters," he informed, eyes looking down.

The blond nodded, his face not showing any sign of sadness or guilt. He had learned the hard way during the war that it was no use mourning for the dead when you were still on the battlefield.

He then turned toward the two wounded girls. They were badly injured but nothing lethal. They were crying a bit but were not loud on the matter.

"You think you can last a bit longer, girls? Kurono informed me that all wounds will disappear once we go back to the room. You just have to survive the mission," he informed as softly as he could.

They bit their lower lips to try eluding the pain and nodded awkwardly. N2 sent their way a reassuring smile before turning toward the American quartet. Three were moderately injured but still kicking.

" _You ok guys?_ " the clone asked in English. His accent was barely perceptible in his voice. Their eyes widened slightly.

" _You speak English?_ " one of them asked, taken aback.

 _"I_ _lived six months in the US,_ " he stated practically. In fact, he had first appeared in America and had stayed there half a year before moving to Japan. Also, the fact they were that eager was proof enough that they should be fine. " _Do you know the reason why the suits did not work on you?_ "

They scratched the back of their head in an awkward silence before one of them finally responded. " _Well, actually… we might have switched the suits between us. We thought that it did not matter which suit we wore as long as we had one,_ " the black man confessed, quite embarrassed.

Ah… the clone did not even know how to react to that statement. He was however saved by the bell… somewhat.

The entire palisade of the Museum exploded into shards. Kurono came running away from it and in his tail following was the monstrous Brachiosaurus. It seemed that all of the surviving people were here then… N2 executed three hand seals before placing his hands on the ground.

 _ **'Reverse Summoning Technique,'**_ he mused.

In a pouf of smoke, the original Naruto was here. N2 chose this instant to vanish and pass the information on what happened to his creator.

**** XoX ****

The knowledge of N2 came invading his mind mere seconds after Naruto was invoked on the battlefield. He immediately learnt that there was no reason to hold back his techniques anymore, the clone having already used several super-human feats during his fight in front of the others. He had been searching for Kurono and incidentally for the Brachiosaurus since N1 was destroyed and so was glad to see the high-school student doing ok. The kid joined them at the bottom of the stairs and, breathless, took a break despite still having the dinosaur on his trail.

The blond took his sword out, readying his gear in preparation for the incoming monster. The beast in its race finally noticed the others humans still standing who were eying at it in total bafflement. Particularly, it noticed the unmoving blond. It slowed down on its path before stopping completely just at the top of the staircase.

Then, it spoke.

"You…," ─the voice was deep and coarse─ "You're the one who killed my offspring… I cannot forgive. I will destroy the ones who have inflicted pain upon my children. Little ones… prepare yourselves".

"It can talk," the man with the cap said in bewilderment.

However, the huge beast standing still was only one of the arising problems. The second one appeared in the form of several policemen coming their way. They were strangely walking without noticing anything around, stepping over the guts and limbs of the Velociraptors spread on the ground as if they could not see them. In consequence, they were approaching dangerously close to the massive Brachiosaurus.

"What are you doing? Don't go near that thing!" Suzuki shouted.

"Can't they see that oversize monster? Are they stupid or what?" One of the girls insulted.

"It's no use," Kurono cut all of the ones who were trying to warn the policemen. "People not coming from the room can't see us or the aliens. It's like we're invisible to them, "he informed.

Naruto frowned. Indeed, the law enforcement officers were casually walking around, seeing the hole in the Museum and other property damages but none of the members of the mission or the monsters.

Really? Couldn't this become any worse?

Apparently, it could because Kappe Alien who had laid out beaten mere seconds ago just stood up before making his way toward them. He had grown up by at least two meters and its muscles now appeared to be totally doped.

The ninja's brain ran quickly and five seconds later, a plan was devised. Just in time it seemed because the Brachiosaurus had just resumed its path of destruction and it would not take long before it reached them and the totally unaware policemen.

"Kurono-san," he called, promptly gaining the undivided attention of the aforementioned. "Deal with this Kappe Alien one way or another, I don't care. Tell the others to grab those policemen by force if needed but don't let them walk further ahead. I'll be busy with big mammoth over there," he articulated with his blade raised toward the incoming threat.

The shinobi took off without waiting for an answer and broke into a sprint toward the beast. It was probably as big as Gamabunta… but in a fight, size was far from being the only thing that mattered. It could even turn to be an inconvenience in certain case.

While making his way, he bypassed the several policemen and quickly charged a simple Rasengan before blowing it up on the ground in front of them. He then resumed his charge. Hopefully, the men would think of some kind of bomb and would back off from the battlefield invisible in their eyes. He created a couple of clones however for safety measures who remained just in front of the group.

The creature narrowed its reptilian yellow eyes and its muscles tensed. For a moment, the former jinchuriki was assaulted by the image of one slippery Sanin but the thought was quickly chased away. The beast was sentient and intelligent apparently because it did not appear to consider the blonde as a mere bug. It must have witness the fate of several of its so-called children and had learned from the experience.

It moved backward its skull and long neck and attacked with one swift and powerful swing. Naruto parried but could not counterattack because of the insane strength of the monster. Then, the neck retracted before it fell again.

Truthfully, it was the first time since he came here that the shinobi could sense the adrenaline running through his brain cells and muscles. The beast was capable of high-speed movements and held a tremendous amount of strength behind each strikes.

He battled with the swinging neck some dozens of seconds, not managing to deal any significant blow despite being able to land a few deep cuts and pierce an eye. However, he could not penetrate the duo of blades up and down the skull of the creature. The material in which they were made was highly resistant, enough to not be damaged by the blade.

He hesitated in coating the blade with wind chakra but decided against it. If the metal composing the sword was not chakra conducting, the metal would be shattered to pieces and he would lose the blade. He cursed internally for not having tested that earlier.

Well, it was water under the bridge and he was far from helpless despite the apparent stalemate. He needed an opening but could not find one? Well then, he would just create his own opening.

Monster and shinobi were battling in the stairs leading to the Museum. The creature was attacking restlessly, barely seeing its target because of its lost eye along with the dust and rocks tossed into the air after each strike.

Naruto could have used Sennin Mode but it would have been overkill against the beast ─plus he would have needed time and he doubted the reptile would agree to sit in a corner in the meantime─. He could also have started to infuse more than the minimum required chakra into his muscles and body to simply overcome the speed of the dinosaur. However, there was a much easier option.

He waited for the next attack and countered it in the same way he had done so far. Except this time, his ocean blue eyes took notice of one of the rocks that had been lifted into the air by the strike, just above the head of the creature moving backward.

 _ **'Kawarimi,'**_ the ninja simply voiced inside his mind.

One of the three basic techniques of the Academy brought him just above the completely exposed neck of the beast that was not even aware of his recent relocation. He easily beheaded the monster with a swift horizontal motion but did not stop there.

The creature was of the same type as the smaller one he had encountered earlier. There was a high probability that like the smaller Brachiosaurus, this one could survive that sort of injury.

In mid-air, Naruto took a quick glance around. Kurono had managed to blow up the skull of Kappe Alien and the various policemen were leaving the scene after the several explosions they had witnessed, probably retreating in order to call for back up. The two clones he had summoned were still here, evenly eying at their creator.

Good.

He sent his sword to one of the clones and prepared for the fall. As anticipated, the Brachiosaurus had faltered but not fallen. He would not allow it to resume its rampage though.

With one hand, he created a small Rasengan and covered it with a layer of wind. He launched it toward the spine of the creature but just before it left his hand, he added a large amount of chakra into the little orb. Immediately after leaving his hand, the ball size was increased by a factor ten.

The attack was far from being as powerful as a Rasenshuriken but it was not what he was looking for there. The wind was just a mean for the orb to be conveyed and not a real part of the attack.

 _ **'Drilling Cannon Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan'.**_

The wind promptly carried the large ball of chakra in a straight way until it hit the backbone of the Brachiosaurus. The drilling power of the Rasengan then kicked into effect and the large orb easily tore apart the inside of the monster. The end result was similar to a cannonball but with far more power behind it.

Flesh, bones, rocks and dust mixed into a red miasma.

Still in the air, Naruto used _**'Kawarimi'**_ to replace himself with one of his clones ─taking back his blade in the same movement─ before both replicas vanished with a puff of white smoke. Few seconds later, the shredded corpse of the Brachiosaurus fell down on the ground. Only its four legs, its tail and what had remained of its neck had not been completely turned into a bloody mush.

He kept his eyes on the gory mess a little while longer before easing his guard and turning around.

All the surviving members of the team had their eyes entirely focused on the blond, perhaps gauging what sort of alien he was himself. However, he noticed with surprise that none of the emotion displayed on their faces were ones of fear or anger.

Apprehension and uneasiness were the dominant ones over the face of the man with the cap. There was complete bewilderment from Kurono and Suzuki with a drop of deference from the latter. The trio of young women was quiet in awe and disbelief. The four Americans were less silent in expressing their admiration with various shoots of ' _WHOA_ ', _'You're a total boss, boss'_ and others sort of crazy words. Then, there were the two psychics, both with wonder in their eyes despite a tad bit of anxiety from the older one. Reika also seemed in marvel, speechless and eyes riveted on the blond. Finally, Kaze was looking at him with contemplating widened eyes and lips slightly bent upward, as if he was satisfied by what he had just seen.

The shinobi arched an eyebrow and made his way toward the group. He found himself rubbing the back of his head, repressing the slight discomfort for all the pairs of eyes directed at him.

"Well… seems like we finish all of those monsters, right? What's next then Kurono-san?"

The aforementioned blinked a few seconds before coughing gawkily. "Hum… we'll be brought back to the room the same way we came here. It shouldn't be too long before it begins".

Naruto nodded and took a look at the controller. The message _'mission completed_ ' had appeared on the screen and was blocking the access to all the options.

The silence only held for a moment longer before chaos rose.

"What the hell was that?" One of the girls spoke with utter shock and passion rather than hostility.

"Are you some kind of alien too?" another one shot.

 _"Holy shit man!"_ An American commented eagerly.

"It was incredible, Naruto-san," Suzuki articulated.

 _"You were totally badass, boss!"_

 _"You can even do magic?"_

"Such a tremendous power," Sakurai whispered in awe.

Obviously, with all those persons speaking in chorus, the shinobi understood only a tenth of what was being said. He chuckled awkwardly, raising his hands to stop the cacophony.

"Please, calm down everyone," he requested, waiting for the silence to settle before carrying on his speech. "Believe me, I'm no alien. I'm human just like you. I just happen to possess in addition several abilities that I developed throughout my life".

Seeing that more questions were coming, he tried to divert the conversation elsewhere. "Those two guys are psychics, you know?" he pointed at Sakurai and Sakata who blinked owlishly. "Many things are not well-known on earth but they still exist. Hell, after fighting those oversize reptiles, I think that's kinda obvious, right?"

Several persons blinked, stopping their train of thoughts at once. Now that they could think about it…

"Ah…" Sakurai interrupted the short silence. His head was gradually disappearing and everyone quickly understood what was going on. "I can see the room".

"We're being brought back to the room one by one," Kurono informed matter-of-factly.

Naruto sighed, relaxing his muscles before sitting down on the stairs. It seemed like it was finally over. Sakurai had now left and it was Kaze's turn to go.

The shinobi would lie if he affirmed that he had not found the experience interesting and quite stimulating. It was as if he was back being a ninja sent on a mission. The major and unfortunate difference however was that there were no other shinobis with him. Those people around were only civilians. They had not deserved being involved in something like that against their will. And according to Kurono, they would be sent to other mission similar to that one. He needed to think about what to do on the matter…

Should he act as a ninja whose mission was to defend the civilians? It was only a short-term solution though if missions kept coming again and again.

Both psychics, Kaze, the man with the cap, Reika and Suzuki were now gone and Kurono had just started disappearing. It would leave only himself, the three girls and the four Americans.

It was then that a strange quartet came upon the group like a raging storm.

Few people had passed near the Gantz's members since Naruto ended the last dinosaur but the blond had not really bothered about them. He had cast a short glance at the couple of policemen and the pedestrians each time and as expected, they had not even looked their way. They truly were invisible in the other's eyes.

However, it had made Naruto lower his guard and it was Kurono first who noticed them approaching due to his position. They were so sure no one could see them that they had relaxed their vigilance… In fact, they had not even bothered listening to the pedestrian's conversations.

Naruto dodged the bullet that was shot at him with urgency and sharp efficiency ─as soon as he heard the trigger being pulled, he was on the move─. He had to leap off the ground for a second to escape a swinging sword that forced him a dozen meters away from the group.

At the same time, one girl was slashed in half without even noticing the four men and an American encountered the same fate with a bullet piercing his skull. Brain liquid and human organs were spread on the cobblestones.

A second after their aggressors' appearance, Kurono had to dodge a sword's horizontal swing by jumping high above the ground. He disappeared in midair, teleported to the room of Gantz.

The three Americans and the two girls left finally became aware of the new threat. Naruto mentally cursed for having dropped his guard but immediately let his instincts and experience came back with full force. Two persons were already down, beyond saving, and five more were still in very great danger.

Four men had led the attack. They were all displaying only pure black clothes except for one who was showing a white shirt under his open black coat.

"Mmh, we only got two," the bald one wearing sunglasses among the foursome indicated with fake disappointment. _'Baldy'_ , Naruto thought.

"You're one to talk, yours have already vanished," the one with long curly black hair and a slight bear on the chin mocked to his companion. "At least I cut the girl like I said I would". That one would be 'Curl' then.

"Hey, I'm not the only one to blame, Yukichi missed his target too and that one did not even disappear," Baldy answered in slight annoyance.

"… I did not expect for him to have such instincts, sorry," the old-looking one with short white hair and a copious amount of wrinkles apologized without emotion. He had been the one to attack Naruto. This time, the shinobi did not have to nominate him as his name had already been revealed.

"They're disappearing. We need to move fast," the one with mid-long blond hair and the pretty face informed. That one had not even moved, letting his allies do all the work. The others immediately stopped their arguing and prepared for attacking.

 _'That blond one is probably the higher in rank among the group'_ , Naruto mused. He would be 'Top Dog' then.

They were all holding a gun except 'Top Dog' and the old one and 'Curl' even had a silver katana in their hands. According to their stance, Yukichi would come for him, 'Curl' and 'Baldy' would attack the others while 'Top Dog' would stay still and watch the events unfold while smocking his cigarette.

"Wha!" the three Americans and the girls ran away in terror from the foursome.

Naruto attacked before they even started their assault. He instantly appeared in front of Yukichi who was on the way, blade ready for the strike. The old man whose eyes had widened in surprise proved to possess fine instincts because he managed to raise his sword in time to parry the blow. However, he failed to notice the single kunai that came piercing his skull, ending his life in a second.

Several bullets were fired with loud bangs resonating and cries followed. One girl and two Americans were hit in the skull or the heart and dropped down, dead. The last girl was hit in the kidney and the arm while the remaining American was shot in the leg. Both collapsed on the ground still breathing but their aggressors were promptly preparing their next shot.

'Top Dog' had his eyes wide open after witnessing the blond end so quickly one of his colleague but Naruto did not bother to spare him any of his attention. The shinobi vanished via Shunshin, literally materializing on the right of 'Baldy'.

The top of the ninja's head started disappearing, being transported to the room of Gantz.

Several things unfolded successively in less than a second. The first was Naruto's blade cutting through the air before it reached its target, beheading 'Baldy' without him even noticing. The second was a bullet being shot by 'Curl' that went through the skull of the last American still breathing.

Knowing he had little time left before totally disappearing, Naruto immediately leaped to 'Curl' with the intent to sever him into two equal pieces. The black-haired man finally noticed the fall of his two comrades and stopped his assault on the girl to point his gun at the incoming shinobi. The sword proved to be quicker than the gun though and already, 'Curl' could see his death coming.

Another sword blocked Naruto's blade with 'Top Dog' appearing between the two ─and if his peripheral vision was not playing tricks on the former jinchuriki's mind then that man had just taken the katana directly out of the palm of his hand─.

He cursed mentally. The top half of Naruto's eyes had now disappeared but he still capitalized all of the information he could take. He registered the location of the girl still breathing and the position of 'Top Dog' and 'Curl'.

Alright.

His entire head was now gone and he closed his eyes to not be disturbed by the sight of the Gantz's room on the other side.

He infused more chakra into the arm that was holding the katana, quickly overpowering 'Top Dog' in the strength's contest they were having with their swords and forcing the man to his knees. With his free hand, he then blindly threw a kunai coated with wind chakra in front of him.

Naruto vanished, his body completely teleported. However, on the battlefield, the fight was not over yet.

'Top Dog' 's eyes widened in utter shock at the kunai that was coming at him. He urgently sidestepped to avoid the projectile. It still managed to slice his cigarette in half, cut deeply into his cheek and ripped a strand of his long blond hair. His shock increased even further when, behind him, his partner was pierced in the heart by the weapon and fell lifeless to the ground.

His opponent had managed to overpower him with the objective to align his skull with the heart of his fellow comrade, probably with the intent to kill them both in one strike. His strength was incredible and his instincts clearly insane. He had managed to pull out such a strategy in a mere instant amidst the heat of the battle.

If Hikawa had been just a tenth of a second slower, he would have been killed.

Too bad for the guy he had managed to dodge the shot. The Vampire Leader turned his focus toward the last still breathing girl on the ground who was trying to crawl her way out of here.

Three Vampire Bosses killed in less than thirty seconds by one single guy… He had certainly not expected that when he went out for the hunt.

Who was that man?

**** XoX ****

When Kurono materialized into the room, everyone around knew that something was definitely on his mind. Confusion and surprise were written all over his face and the fact he appeared midair was not helping to dispatch the matter at hand.

"Is there something wrong Kurono-san?" Suzuki asked more out of concern than simple curiosity. It was obvious that the high school student was disturbed quite deeply.

Kurono blinked, finally registering the eyes of everyone directed at him. He coughed out twice in slight discomfort before answering. "Yeah… four guys appeared out of nowhere back there. They could see us and they attacked us," he informed, marking a pause to take a deep breath. "I'm not sure what happened… I saw Naruto-san dodged an attack and heard several gunshots… I think a girl or one of the American guys was hit because they were cries… I had to escape an attack myself so I didn't really had the time to look around".

"Were they monsters?" Sakata asked. "Perhaps we didn't kill all of them".

"I don't think so… they looked completely human. Plus, the mission was over the moment we started being brought back into the room. It's odd… it's the first time it happens," Kurono confessed grimly. "I hope they will be ok".

A tense silence descended over all of them and Kurono took the time to let his eyes wandered on each of the room's resident.

Izumi was absent… Was he dead then? He did not know if he should feel joyful of sad about that. He never liked the man… hell, he hated him. But he had not wanted for him to die like that…

He let his mind wander over the subject of the four guys. Who were they? They could see them which meant they were certainly not ordinary humans. And they attacked without questions. They had known who they were dealing with… perhaps they were related to the black sphere in one way or another.

"Naruto-san is with them," Sakurai declared with passion. "I'm sure they'll be ok".

Kurono did not risk taking the bet. The blond was strong, sure, but those guys were also far from normal. He knew that death could come in a heartbeat. However, the words served to at least ease some minds in the room.

Another person started to materialize. The blond hair was easily recognizable and the blue eyes that appeared mere seconds later lifted any doubts left.

The part of Naruto that was appearing was moving in the room though and everyone understood that he was struggling against something.

"Stay away from him," Kurono advised even if many had already done so. Everyone moved toward a corner, clearing as much space as possible for the blond to move.

When the blue eyes appeared, they widened slightly before the blond closed them. He was obviously focusing his attention on some matter on the other side. It lasted three more seconds before he completely materialized inside the room. Naruto opened his eyes, took a look around before his face twisted with self-directed rage.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, punching the air and grinding his teeth. "I missed one".

He mentally cursed for some seconds before sighting tiredly. There was no use dwelling too much on the matter now. However, he should not have dropped his guard earlier. That had been a rookie mistake and six, probably seven persons had died because of it.

Was he rusted as a shinobi? Had the four years he spent in this world cause his reflexes to deteriorate?

"Hum, Naruto-san," Suzuki called delicately to catch the man's attention. He was slightly intimidated by the sight of the irritated blond. He had never seen such an expression on his face, far more used to the various smiles the shop's owner would deliver at his job.

"What happened over there?" Kurono asked softly. Considering the man's expression, he already had a pretty good guess.

Naruto noticed that everyone was waiting for his response. He sighed once again, bringing his hand over his head to pull back the rebellious strands of hair. "… To keep things short, those four guys managed to kill everyone except one girl who was badly hurt… I killed three of them but missed the last one before being transported here. I don't know what happened to the girl…" He did not need to elaborate for them to understand that she was probably already dead.

"There's no need to blame yourself, Naruto-san," Suzuki told him. "In fact, I think that us standing here, still living, is in large part thanks to you.

After a short pause, a small grateful smile bloomed on the ninja's lips. It was in moment like that that Suzuki made him remember of one Hiruzen Sarutobi. He nodded in thanks at the old man.

The silence was broken by a strange noise whose source was the black sphere in the room. A message in white letters had just appeared on the screen.

 _And now…_

 _Time for the points_

 _00:00:00_

"Oh. Gantz is going to start handing out points," Kurono informed matter-of-factly. "Well… it also means that the transportation is over".

In resume, the eight of them were the only ones to have survived the night. The screen changed, showing a poor image of Sakata.

 _Stupid noob_

 _12 points_

 _Total : 12 points_

 _Get 88 more and you're done… Stop always complaining!_

"…Is that me? Why stupid noob'?" the psychic asked. "And I don't complain," he muttered softly enough that only Sakurai next to him could hear the words.

"I don't think that you need to care about what Gantz says. The points you got is the only relevant information there is," Kurono informed. "12 points is pretty good in fact".

The screen changed with an image of Reika displayed.

 _Hunter's fan n°1_

 _0 points_

 _Total : 0 points_

 _Being pretty and daydreaming about Hunter just doesn't make the fit!_

"Hunter? Who's that, some celebrity?" Sakurai asked to Reika.

She blushed greatly, refusing to raise her eyes to meet the others. The screen changed once again.

 _Countryside General_

 _6 points_

 _Total : 6 points_

 _Get 94 more and you're done_

"…" was all that Kaze had to say.

 _Cherry_

 _8 points_

 _Total : 8 points_

 _Get 92 more and you're done_

"8 points," Sakurai read aloud.

 _Bald Dude_

 _6 points_

 _Total : 6 points_

 _Get 94 more and you're done_

"Bald Dude, eh," Suzuki smiled in minor embarrassment.

 _Inaba_

 _0 points_

 _Total : 0 points_

 _Trying to act cool just doesn't cut it…_

So, the name of the man with the cap was Inaba. Naruto stored it in a corner of his mind. He had barely noticed the guy during the mission.

 _Kurono_

 _32 points_

 _Total : 32 points_

 _Get 68 more and you're done_

"Whoa, you're impressive Kurono-san!" Sakurai exclaimed.

"Ah… Thank you," he merely replied. It was a relief he had managed to mark at least more than 15. "But it's just that I was not on my first try, you know…" He simply discarded the compliment. He was quite interested by the last score Gantz had yet to deliver.

The screen changed once again, displaying another poor image of a guy with three whiskers on each cheek. It was probably the only clue that it was in fact Naruto considering that the rest of the face was more of a cartoon.

 _Hunter_

 _147 points_

 _Total : 147 points_

 _Please, choose from the 100 points menu_

"Ah…" Naruto just voiced out blankly in front of the black sphere. "Hum… you said something happens when you get 100, right?" he asked to Kurono.

He obtained no response though and turned around to finally see the face of the others. They were… well, speechless. Was that such a big deal? Apparently yes because a second later, all hell broke loose.

"Holy fuck!"

"You're really a boss, huh?"

"It's incredible, Naruto-san!"

"As expected". That one remark came from Kaze and the blond was really not looking forward to learn the meaning of those words said from the giant of a man.

"… Thank you." It was all the blond found in response. He returned his attention on the black sphere. The screen changed once again but it was not to show another player this time.

 _100 points menu_

 _Please choose between the following options :_

 _1/ You will be freed along with your memories erased_

 _2/ You will be given an extremely powerful weapon_

 _3/ You will be able to revive an human being from the memory_

Well, this was to say the least interesting. If this black sphere was really able to revive others, then it was a Rinnegan level of technology. Who the hell had been able to build such a thing? Humans? He doubted that.

His brain ran for some dozens of seconds before he made his choice. The others behind him were muttering between themselves about the various choices but he decided to ignore them.

"Option 3 please. Show me the list of persons I can revive from the memory".

The sphere acknowledged the response with an electronic sound and the black screen changed once again, this time displaying a full list of images of people. There were hundreds of them from left to right and from top to bottom. The ones at the right bottom were the most recent dead who had been part of tonight's mission.

Naruto turned around and his gaze landed on Kurono. "Is there anyone you wish to revive?"

The high school student along with everyone else blinked simultaneously. Kurono was the first one to sober up.

"Wh… What? But… don't you want to be freed from this room?"

The shinobi shrugged his shoulders. The choice seemed easy enough from his perspective.

"Not really, no. Those aliens we fought today… I feel like they are just the tip of the iceberg. Something big is coming and when it comes, I don't want to be ignorant of the matter. Besides, well… I don't have many friends so coming back home is not my main concern. This little group is in fact rather interesting so I would like to stay with you a bit longer".

He marked a pause, taking in the expression on each other face before resuming his speech. "So, it leaves the second and the third option… well, I don't really want a powerful weapon I suppose. It would be interesting just to see what it is but I feel more comfortable with the sword and my techniques anyway so… option three it is".

His words were sharp and clear, like a teacher giving lesson to his students. The blond took a short glance toward the various images displayed on the black screen.

"So, it leaves me the choice of who I choose to revive… I did not really know the people who died today. I suppose if Kurono-san, Reika-san or Suzuki-san would have died, I would have revived them but… well, they did not. Then, a thought occurred to me. 'Kurono-san shared with us important information and he had already experienced several nights like that one… he probably lost some precious people already'. Right?" Kurono nodded, dumbfounded. "So, I'll ask you the question once again. Do you wish to revive someone in particular?"

The logic was quite odd and a little naïve but all of the people in the room could not help but admire the blond for such a choice. It was a bit innocent and, well, stupid, but also very heartwarming.

Suzuki smiled sincerely. Reika had fond affection in the deep of her dark eyes. Kaze and Sakata wore proud tiny smiles over their face. Inaba moved his cap a little to hide his eyes but could not help a small smile to bend his lips upward. Sakurai was the most enthusiast of the lot and was shooting words of approbation.

Kurono blinked once, then twice. A lone tear rolled down his cheek as realization struck his mind before he softly spoke.

"Ah… there is someone who was a dear friend of mine… I'm always trying to model myself after him and… he sacrificed his life for me".

Naruto smiled warmly to the kid. "Your best friend then, right?" Kurono nodded. "What's his name?"

"Ah… Kato. Masaru Kato," the high-school student responded. More tears came rolling from his eyes.

"Ok," the shinobi answered before turning toward the black sphere. "Please, revive Masaru Kato".

The pictures disappeared on the screen and it turned black once again. A second passed before a ray of white light came out from the sphere, pointing at an empty spot in the room.

Slowly, in the same way that every person was transported inside or outside of the room, a silhouette materialized. It started from the feet to the legs, then the stomach, chest, neck and finally the head. Five seconds after its manifestation, the ray of light vanished, leaving an additional person in the room.

147 points turned to 47 on Naruto's profile but he barely noticed the modification. Then, it displayed the summary of the same man that had appeared in the room a moment earlier.

 _Kato-cha (lol)_

 _0 points_

 _Total : 0 points_

 _You died, moron! Be more careful next time._

The boy who had appeared was perhaps 17 to 18 years old. Probably another high-school student, Naruto mused. He was taller than the shinobi by at least half a head. He was wearing the Gant's suit, had a lean and muscular body and appeared quite handsome with his mid-long black hair.

"Kei…" the revived man spoke softly to a crying Kurono, disbelief and incomprehension written all over his face. "Wh… What happened to 1000 arms?"

It made some of the others blinked or frowned. Naruto was quick to figure out the reference. 1000 arms was probably the monster that killed the kid…

Kato glanced around the quiet room, eyes landing on each resident before bouncing back to Kurono. "What… what's going on? Who are those people? What about everyone else?"

Kurono thought carefully about the words to use before speaking. "Well… it's been a little more than a month since the temple. When you get 100 points, you can bring someone who died back to life".

"I… died?" He asked, barely believing what he could hear.

"Yes… I was the only one to make it out alive".

"I see. So you… hum… brought me back to life?

"Oh," Kei's eyes widened slightly. He coughed a few times before speaking. "No, it wasn't me. It's hum… Naruto-san," he designed the blond with a significant glance.

Surprise spread over Kato's face and his shocked pure black eyes crossed the ocean ones of the shinobi. "Hum? But… why would you do that?"

Naruto smiled softly at the tall guy. "Kurono-san helped us. It was our first mission and we were quite lost back there so… I thought it was an appropriate gift of thanks. Plus, you seem like a nice kid. I'm glad I made this choice," he revealed.

Despite just having been revived, Kato's brain was quick to connect the dots. "Your first mission? But… didn't you just say that you managed to achieve 100 points?"

Naruto coughed out in slight discomfort and it was Kei who finally responded. "Naruto-san does not look much, but he's really strong," Kurono revealed. Naruto faintly twitched in annoyance at the first part of the sentence but calmed down when he heard its end.

"Yeah, he's our boss alright," Sakata commented, quickly supported by Sakurai. Suzuki concurred eagerly with a smile and Reika also strongly nodded. Oddly, even Kaze agreed with a confident nod. Inaba did not bother participating though.

Kato smiled kindly. "I'll bet," he said toward Naruto. "Thank you for reviving me. I… Thanks to you, I can see my little brother once again and take care of him. I'll forever be grateful for what you did".

Naruto scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment but a warm smile still managed to make its way onto his face. "You're welcome," he simply declared.

A sweet silence descended upon the room. Gantz had turned completely black. It was still Saturday evening ─around ten or eleven perhaps─ but it would not be long before Sunday came.

"So, that's it now? We can go home?" Sakurai asked.

"Yeah," Kurono answered. "The doors have been unlocked. We can all go home now. However, don't tell anyone about what happened here. If you do, the chips inside your head will blow up," he warned. It made several of them gulped in discomfort. "Also… sooner or later, we'll be forced to come back here. There's usually a week or two between each mission and it will continue until we achieve 100 points. When it's time, you'll hear a continuous noise in your ears, like a whistling and minutes later, you will be transported. And also…"

Naruto raised a hand before he could carry on. Kurono blinked but turned quiet to let the blond speak. "What about we exchange our numbers?" he asked. "It would be quite simple to keep in touch with each other like that. Also I… hum, as you know, I'm quite familiar with surviving and fighting. I don't know much about Gantz, but I can still train you a little. I learnt many things during the mission by testing the different weapons. I could easily tell you what I learnt. I'm sure Kurono-san and Kato-san could also help on the matter. I think it would greatly increase our chance of survival". He marked a pause, taking in the expression of everyone. "So, what do you say?"

"It's a fantastic idea, Naruto-san," Kato commented enthusiastically. He was immediately joined by everyone around, Kurono first. "I'm sure that sharing our knowledge and helping each other would prove to be a tremendous advantage for the next mission".

"Yeah, you're quite right, boss," Sakata added.

Naruto smiled before resuming speaking. "We're still Saturday evening I think. What about that then? Each one goes home and rests. I invite you to my shop tomorrow at four in the afternoon".

Kurono was not the only one to raise an eyebrow. "A shop?"

"Oh yeah," the ninja smiled earnestly. "I'm the owner of the candy's shop 'Gama's Candy' in Shinjuku. So, what do you say?"

They looked at each other's for no longer than five seconds before approving with a deafening 'Yeah'.

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****


	4. The Black Team

Enjoy !

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere

Chapter 4 : The Black Team

**** XoX ****

When Naruto came back home, the first thing he did was to do some cleaning inside his store. The front door had remained open the whole time since he departed and the heat had invaded the ground floor, ruining and melting several sweets and chocolates that were particularly sensitive to high temperature. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to throw away nearly half of his stock. He would need to bake and cook once again many of the candies. He would probably have 'Gama Candy' closed for a week or two in fact ─he doubted that lots of people would come to Shinjuku in the coming days after what happened─.

He considered himself at least lucky that no one had come to vandalize the shop. The couple of kids who had been inside when he left were nowhere in sight and the blond hoped they had rejoined their family without too much trouble.

The streets of Shinjuku were occupied by many policemen and several areas were closed to the public. Thankfully, his store was just a little bit away from where the massacre had occurred so he was safe from any trouble on the matter.

Once he was done on the ground floor, he closed the front door and set the air conditioning. He sighed tiredly, cast a last glance around before turning the light off and climbing the stairs.

A long shower was his first decision. His clothes were soaked with blood and he chose to throw them away rather than trying to clean them. Apparently, if the black sphere was repairing bodies and clothes, it did not clean them ─except for the black bodysuit─. The time spent in the shower also allowed him to reflect on the previous events of the night.

The mission had been quite easy and any shinobi above at least chûnin rank would have been able to complete it ─except perhaps for the last Brachiosaurus that would have required either a good strategy or a heavy hitter like a jônin─. The monsters he had encountered there had been easily dealt with despite some unexpected development.

The main issue resided in the mission's parameters. The fact civilians, not even soldiers from this world, were sent against those aliens resulted in far too many casualties. The various very high-tech weapons and gears constituted their only saving grace. Without the suits, guns and others weapons, the mission would have ended in a simple and sheer massacre. People had been barely warned about the incoming mission and without Kurono, he doubted that anyone besides the kid and himself ─and perhaps Izumi supposing that he was not killed by the blond─ would have survived. Well, to be fair, he was not clearly aware of the skills of the two psychics and Kaze so perhaps those three would have also survived.

It was the reason why he had decided to call for a meeting with all of them Sunday afternoon. Naruto could not teach them how to mold chakra or even how to increase their physical abilities much but he could coach them a little. For them to have the good reflexes in life-threatening situations. For them to know their strengths and weaknesses in battle. And maybe to show them a little of what he had discovered on the various weapons provided by Gantz he had collected and brought back with him.

On a side note, he still did not know where Izumi had found the black sword. He certainly did not have it before he came into the room and there had been no blade in the suitcase or among the weapons that came out of the black sphere.

He sighed heavily, letting the warm water roll over his skin. Perhaps he should have drawn a bath but with the blood covering his skin, the water would have turned red. As his fingertips slid along his shoulders and arms, he finally noticed something different. He searched on his legs, stomach and back but found nothing. Each scar that had previously marked various spots on his skin had disappeared. The only ones that remained were the three whiskers markings on each of his cheeks but these ones were more birthmarks than real scars.

That… was convenient. Was that what Kurono had referred to when he affirmed that 'no matter the injury, if you're alive at the end of the mission, you'll be brought back to the room without even a scar'?

The ninja turned off the shower. The blood and dust were gone and this time, even his body was as fresh as new without the previous scars marking it. Still dripping wet, he walked onto the bath rug and came in front of the mirror. He waited a couple of minutes for the water vapor to vanish on the glass before attentively focusing his sight on the reflected image. It was strange not seeing any of the scars he grew up accustomed to during those last four years. All had been made during the war, at a time during which Kurama had been more focused on his survival than making the cicatrices entirely disappear.

He grabbed a towel to dry himself and put a large and comfortable white t-shirt and pants. He then went to his bedroom, opened the only door with seals on it to access the room where all of his ninja's stuff was stored. He broke the seal on his wrist to make the various Gantz's weapons and the suitcase appear and let them there. He cast a brief glance around before leaving the room, activating once again the seals protecting the entrance.

He calmly made his way to the desk in his bedroom and sat down on the chair in front of it. He took the notebook in the drawer ─he refused to call it a diary, which it was not─ and went to scribe some lines.

It took him five pages to relate the day. Perhaps he should buy another pad for this Gantz's affair…

**** XoX ****

Reika was glad that the day was finally over. Thankfully, her manager had not scheduled anything for the week-end. She still sent the man a text saying she was ok ─there had been three messages asking on the matter after the Shinjuku's massacre─.

All in all, it had been a hell of a day. She had seen people being killed. She had bled, died, ended up in a strange room, met up with strange people and even been part of a mission to kill some aliens ─or reanimated dinosaurs, whatever the hell they had been─.

However, despite all of those mournful experiences, her mind was in a state of bliss at the moment. And the entire reason revolved around one blond man, probably three to four years her senior.

In fact, she did not even know his surname. Naruto was all that she got. He already had a business of his own, he was not particularly tall but very handsome in a natural way. She hoped he did not have any girlfriend yet… She doubted that. He had said that coming back home had not been his main concern after all because no one was waiting for him.

Love was strange like that. It even sounded like a classical suspension bridge effect, or was it a hero complex? All she knew was that she had furiously fallen in love.

She had taken a long shower thinking on the matter and then another couple of hours under the blanket. She could not however take out of her mind the blond man.

He had been strict and rigorous during the mission but it had been painted pretty obvious that it was in worry for the others.

He was also really mysterious, hiding skills and abilities far beyond the reach of simple humans. It did not bother her though. In fact, she was even more interested in learning to know about him. He was also certainly sparing with compliments, having admitted several times that he found her pretty. The tone he had used had been more friendly than romantic but that was still something.

She turned over in her bed with burning cheeks and unfocused eyes. Her grip over her pillow tightened and the image of one smiling blond man invaded her mind to replace the cushion. The rate of her heartbeat increased.

She would see him tomorrow at his store ─a candy store in fact, wasn't it just perfect?─

She sighed dreamily, trying to force the sleep to take her to no avail. She mentally cursed. She was acting like a perfect little fangirl. She had never fallen so badly… Had he really made such an impact on her?

Apparently yes considering she could feel the spot between her legs become wetter and wetter. Her rapidly rising arousal was obvious now and she used a hand to calm down ─or was it inflamed?─ the matter at hand…

She was turning quite obsessive and it had only been a few hours since she met him. She could barely wait for tomorrow to see him again.

**** XoX ****

It was barely seven in the morning when the doorbell rang. Naruto had already been awake, fully dressed and preparing for breakfast. The sound made him reconsider some seconds before he crossed the room and went down the stairs to see who was his visitor. He hoped it was not for advertisement or to fill out a survey once again. No matter how many times he said he was not interested, people kept coming.

He opened the blinds but let the shades on. He was not opening the store today and there was no need for extra heat into the room full of chocolates and candies. He opened the door at the front, finally coming face to face with someone he had certainly not expected.

"Good morning, Kaze-san. How can I help you?" the blond inquired with curiosity.

"Ah… hello to you too, Naruto-san," the giant of a man responded evenly. There was something in his eyes, Naruto remarked, as if he was… gauging him? "Hum… Do you have some free time perhaps this morning?"

The shinobi blinked with uncertainty. "I left my store's door open yesterday and lost nearly half of my stock of candy. I was planning to start cooking some replacement ones but I won't start before a couple of hours. Why do you ask?"

The huge man took a breath and straightened his posture a bit. "I would like to challenge you to a hand-to-hand combat," he announced in one go.

The blond stood still, taking some time to register the words that had just been pronounced. He blinked once, then twice, mouth and eyes opened larger than normal. That… he had not seen that one coming. "I… see". He certainly did not. "Can I perhaps know your reasons for challenging me?"

Kaze simply nodded. "I want to fight someone strong. I never found a person with whom I could go all out for several years. The things you did last night… it was impressive. It was truly at a level beyond my own. Still… I want to see how far I am compared to you".

The martial artist's mind was focused. The blond shop's owner who was facing him was nothing like the ones he had fought before. He possessed an incredible technique, strength, speed and instincts. He was a warrior.

He was not like Kurono. The kid had won their fight not with skills but thanks to the suit. It had not been difficult for Kaze to reach such a conclusion. He did not blame the boy though. He had used his gear to win the fight, no hold barred. However, it had not been what the dark-haired martial artist had been looking for.

The skills the blond had displayed during the events of last night had been nothing short of mind-blowing. Probably, this man could be the one he was looking for. He could fill his expectations and likely even more. However, he needed to validate his thoughts with his bare fists.

"So, you want to… confirm your strength then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. And also, fight a worthy opponent".

"… I understand," the shinobi admitted in a soft breath. He marked a pause, some thoughts invading his mind before resuming speaking. "There's a park nearby with not too many people at this hour. Perhaps we could go there and have this duel right now if you wish".

The eyes of the giant of a man seemed to lighten up. "Yes, it would be a great place. Thank you for accepting".

Naruto hummed silently and turned around to close the door of his store. He was starting to appreciate the man. He reminded him a little bit of Lee, always trying to find a worthy challenge to overcome. "You're welcome. I quite like fighting myself. I haven't had the opportunity in a while before yesterday".

They started making their way toward the park. Few people were already awake despite the rising sun in the horizon. Naruto was reminded of the fact that it was still very early ─a Sunday morning nonetheless─ and that Shinjuku was not in the best state with the events of the previous day. "So, Kaze-san. Do you practice any special martial art? You possess an impressive stature and your movements are sharp and powerful for what I've seen last night".

"Yes," the black-haired man responded after a second. "I practice Bajiquan".

Hum…he did not know the art. "Sorry, I have never heard of the name before. Is that a Chinese art perhaps?"

The tall man displayed a stretching smile, quite enjoying the topic of conversation his interlocutor had chosen. "Yes. It's focused around explosive power from the upper body, particularly the elbows, and short-range attacks. I've been practicing for more than fifteen years now. I learnt the art in a dojo from the countryside to Tokyo where I grew up. When my master died, I was his only student. I moved in town to search for powerful opponents to test my strength but so far, I only met disappointments".

Naruto simply hummed. "I hope I won't disappoint then".

Kaze frowned slightly but made no comment. For what he had seen from the blond, he was far more powerful than him. However, he still wanted to fight the man. "What about your style, Naruto-san? I never saw something similar to what you did last night in my entire life".

They had arrived at the entrance of the park and were now making their way toward a less crowded area. Despite the early hour, some people had come to exercise. "My style of hand-to-hand combat does not revolved around raw strength like yours does. It's more focused on speed and accurate strikes to cripple the opponent," the shinobi easily revealed. "I do have some strength though, don't be fooled".

Kaze nodded vigorously. "I understand. For what I have seen yesterday evening, it was very impressive. I look forward for our fight".

"I feel the same," Naruto replied eagerly.

They had finally come onto a relatively large clearing near a pedestrian's road. Some people were sometimes passing a few meters away but they would not disturb them. The ground was covered with grass and leaves and few trees were bordering the clearing. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed, making both of the combatants feel more at ease with the environment. Naruto hummed softly and moved to one side of the area, Kaze going to the other one with silent agreement.

The state of mind of the shinobi was quite clear. He would not use any chakra to increase the power of his strike or his speed. He would however use his full set of skills in hand-to hand combat along with his natural strength and speed. He doubted that a civilian could touch him even with those handicaps but it would be a disrespect not to take the man seriously. He valued Kaze and even started to appreciate him. As fellow combatants, they could understand some things that others could not.

The blond took off his t-shirt, letting his upper-body for all to see. Despite the lack of training since the moment he came into this dimension, his body was chiseled and his muscles molded in marble. It was not the muscular physique of Kaze, his being more speed and sharp-movement oriented, but it was still impressive.

The shinobi took a long breath, closed his eyes one second before opening them. All that was left in his gaze was an intense focus. "Whenever you're ready," he offered.

Kaze straightened his stance, his bare arms raised and his mind set. The next instant, he attacked.

Naruto blocked the first blow with ease despite being slightly surprised by the strength and speed behind it. His right hand immediately went to grab the collar of his opponent but the dark-haired man managed to destabilize his own body to free his arm in the next instant. Kaze rotated on himself with the intent to direct his left elbow in the chest of the blond. Fast and sharp, Naruto crouched down to escape the strike and with his right hand, hit the exposed articulation between shoulder and arm. Kaze winced in pain from the blow to his deltoid muscle but he still managed to lower his other arm toward the blond head.

To dodge the strike, Naruto let gravity do its work, bringing him face near the ground. He put both of his hands on the grass and with an acrobatic display, pushed with one foot the giant of the man.

Not expecting this sort of onslaught, Kaze could only soften the blow by leaning his neck and body backward. He was still driven a few centimeters into the air, his feet leaving the ground for a second.

Normally, against any other adversary, the blow was only supposed to be a minor one. Kaze had not expected this turn of event but had not looked at the hit as a critical one. However, he would learn soon enough that one second in the air, defenseless, was all the time necessary for his opponent to lead the charge.

One second was all it took for Naruto to proceed his next action, taking full advantage of the man without fulcrum. Still taking support with his hands on the ground, Naruto pushed to join his sparring partner into the air and executed an impressive twist of his entire body. With his head tilted backward, the martial artist did not even notice the blond's leg connecting with his body at the spot between his right lung and upper ribs.

Kaze found himself suddenly propelled in parallel to the ground before his back hit one of the various trees at the border of the clearing. He slid against the bark of the tree, gaining several scrapes in his descent before finally reaching the ground and falling into a kneeling position. He coughed in pain and lack of air. The strike from the blond had literally shoved outside all of the air he had had inside his lungs.

Naruto anxiously bit his lower lip, quickly approaching the martial artist. Perhaps he should have hold back a bit of his strenght in his delivered blows. He had been so surprised by the impressive skills and strength of his opponent that he had forgotten he had been facing a civilian, a non-ninja. Even if the shinobi had not consciously been using chakra to increase his abilities, the fact he had grown up with it had naturally strengthened his body. The last blow he had landed could have incapacitated even a good chûnin.

"Are you ok, Kaze-san?"

The man coughed again a few times and took some deep breaths, calming his heartbeat and mind. A large and content smile then bloomed on his lips. He stood up and his onyx eyes met the ocean-blue ones of his interlocutor.

"As I thought, you're truly incredible Naruto-san. Please, allow me to become your disciple and to learn from you!"

**** XoX ****

It was three in the afternoon when the bell rang once again. Raising his eyes from the furnaces where a batch of caramels was currently being cooked, Naruto went out of the kitchen situated on the ground floor. He came into the front room where his shop was, taking a look through the open windows to see the person who was ringing the doorbell.

He blinked a few seconds in assessment before going to open the door for the two newcomers. "Sakurai-san, Sakata-san, good afternoon. You're a little early aren't you?"

The older of the two scratched the back of his head in slight discomfort and an awkward smile made his way past his lips. "Good afternoon to you too, Naruto-san," he replied. "In fact, we wanted to talk to you before everyone else arrived so we came a bit earlier than the scheduled time. I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience".

The blond shrugged his shoulders. "I just placed a batch of caramels in the oven. I lost half of my stock yesterday because I left the door open and the heat melted the candies, so I have to replace them". He marked a small pause. The blond also wanted to speak to the both of them somewhat privately. "However, we can still talk. Please, come on in," he invited, going back into the store and allowing both psychics to walk inside. Sakurai then closed the door behind him and the trio made their way toward the counter.

It was then that Kaze's head emerged from behind the door leading to the kitchen. The giant of a man was wearing an apron of the same color as the shinobi ─the pale pink clothe was in fact quite tight for him─ and two brown oven mitts. "Master," he called. "The batch of chocolate's truffles has cooled down. Where do I put them?"

Both psychics blinked in perfect synchronicity. Naruto did not pay them any mind and simply answered. "Put a handful behind the shop's windows. The rest goes in this drawer," he told him while pointing at said compartment.

"… Ah. Hum, Hello… Kaze-san?" Sakurai uncertainly asked/declared. The fluffy gloves and pink apron he was wearing served to make both psychics widen their eyes. The fact he was more than a head taller than the blond shinobi only made the image more… comical? Awkward?

The martial artist nodded in assessment in Naruto's direction and finally noticed the two additional presences in the candy's shop. He simply raised an eyebrow then nodded to acknowledge the both of them before making his way toward the shop's windows with the chocolate truffles in hands. Two pairs of eyes followed him with rising incredulity, taking in every move he made, and then turned toward the shop's owner. "Hum, is he… working here?" Sakurai asked/stated in the same state of mind as his sensei.

Naruto grabbed one of the truffle on the plate in Kaze's hands and brought it to his lips. A smile of appreciation bloomed on his face. They were good. "He proposed to help me this morning. He had nothing better to do and it was a thank you for me accepting to spare with him. He keeps calling me Master since then. It's a little bit embarrassing in fact".

Sadly, the man was not really at ease and competent enough in the kitchens and had quickly been transferred to the shop to transport and store the candies. He could always use a pair of hands.

"I'll be upstairs," the shinobi informed the martial artist. "When the clock rings, can you put the caramels out of the oven and turn it off?"

"Of course, Master," the aforementioned answered firmly while putting the chocolates behind the shop windows.

Naruto sighed. He took off his apron and hung it behind the counter before making his way upstairs, motioning for the two newcomers to follow him. Sakata and Sakurai cast a last glance full of incredulity in Kaze's direction before following the blond in his tracks, deciding to let the mater slide for their mind's sanity.

Once they arrived in the living room upstairs, a replica of Naruto immediately appeared at their side. Both psychics expressed their surprise with eyes widening while the clone made his way behind the bar to prepare some refreshment. They kept following the original nonetheless who lead them to the couple of sofas and chairs disposed around a rectangular coffee table. Sakata and Sakurai took some moments to let their eyes travel across the living room, kitchen and the balcony situated behind the large bay window. They sat on one of the sofa, Naruto taking a chair.

"Those clones of yours are impressive," Sakata commented when said clone joined them seconds later with a large wooden plater on which were three glasses, a bottle of lemonade and a plate of chocolates and various other candies. The goodies were in fact some that had melted the previous night and that the shop owner could not sell despite still being quite good. Their forms were not what it once had been but the taste was still the same. The clone dispersed soon after in a cloud of white smoke and each person around the table did not wait before grabbing some of the collation.

"They are," Naruto agreed wholeheartedly whilst making the service of lemonade. "They vanish after a single scratch but all of their experience and memory are then passed onto me. It can generate quite the headache thought if there's too much information. It's one of my favorite moves from where I come from".

His two guests blinked simultaneously. They had not expected for their host to speak so openly about his abilities. "I see… and how are you able to do something like that?" Sakurai asked, curiosity obvious in his tone of voice while munching one of the chocolates. _They are really good_ , the thought hit him distractedly.

Naruto gave them both a glass full of lemonade and took one for himself. He drank half of the beverage before answering. "Well… I suppose I can tell you some things first before everyone else arrived. I will share only the basics for now, I don't want to repeat myself afterward with the others".

The two psychics nodded. They had not expected in the first place that the blond would talk about his abilities with the whole group. It was not really surprising thought. They could not share such knowledge by fear of having their heads blown up so there was little to worry about. Not that they would have told anything even then, the man had proved more than anything that he could be trusted.

Naruto ate two caramels before speaking. "I'm not from this world… or something like that," the shinobi outrightly revealed. "I'm not sure how I ended up here in truth… in this world, I mean. I think I died in my own dimension. What I'm sure is that around four years ago, I simply woke up near Grand Canyon in the USA".

He shrugged his shoulders, letting the time for his interlocutors to process the information and drank the rest of his lemonade. "From where I come from, everyone has access to a particular energy called chakra. Chakra is like a second bloodstream in our body. If we learn to control it, we can use numerous techniques like the Shadow Clone you saw earlier. People who learned to use their chakra were called ninjas or shinobis".

Sakurai gulped in unease. "So you're… some kind of world traveler or something like that? Some sort of alien?"

Naruto simply hummed. "Yeah, something like that probably. I could have traveled in time too, the idea occurred to me when I discovered that I'm the same as the others humans on this planet. Or something like a parallel dimension… We were speaking an old version of Japanese in my home world and only the fact I have chakra set my body apart from any other human. I don't have any certitude though, only hypothesis about what happened to me".

"Whoa, that's… kind of amazing," the high-school student commented in total wonder. "And here I thought that sensei and I were the odd ones".

Naruto smiled softly before responding. "Speaking about that… during Shinjuku's massacre, I saw you facing Izumi. I was on the point to intervene when you used your psychic powers and, well… it kinda completely stopped me in my tracks and I did not manage to save you in the end. I was so surprised… I thought you were from my world for several seconds. I knew some people who could achieve similar feats back there…" –Magnet release and Rinnegan gravity powers had been the first coming to mind– "…but I checked your body and did not find any trace of chakra in it. I saw Sakata-san using the same power by the way during the events of last night. So… I'm quite curious about how you did it," he admitted while scratching the back of his head. He was quite eager to learn something new –he felt as if he had been brought back a decade in time–.

Both psychics shared a glance but their minds were already set. In truth, there was little reason for them to not tell the blond man about their quirk.

Sakata thought it was his job to speak on the matter as the most experienced with his power. "In truth, I don't really know how it began. A man came to me one day when I was having quite a tough time and affirmed he could help me. The next thing I know, he came into my mind and... shared his power with me or something like that. I did the same with Sakurai a few months ago". Sakata cast a glimpse at Naruto who was looking at him in wonder. "I don't really know how this power came to exist, it just does. Perhaps it's the effect of some alien..."

Naruto nodded. Lots of things could be left unexplained in the world, he was quite aware of that fact. "So, you can turn any person you desire into a psychic?"

Sakata shook his head in the negative. "No, only people who are predisposed for the ability, and they are quite rare. Moreover, for what I know, there can only be two living persons with this power, the master and the disciple. No more. When the master dies, it's the task of the disciple to pass the torch and become master".

Naruto smiled a genuine smile. "...I see. It's really interesting learning about all of the different things in this world," he commented. "But enough on the serious talk. What about testing some of my candies while waiting for the others to arrive ?"

Stretching smiles made their way onto the psychics' faces. "Yeah !"

**** XoX ****

Reika was struggling nervously in the metro. A thick wool hat was covering her head to avoid attracting too much attention from the other passengers.

There were only few people in the car. The Shinjuku's station was the next stop and it appeared pretty obvious that after the massacre that took place the day before, not many persons would be interested in going there.

"Reika-san?" a voice suddenly called by her side.

She had not really paid any attention to the persons around so she was quite surprised when her dark eyes landed on the form of Kurono. "Oh… Kurono-san. Hello," she greeted with a small smile. Her voice was low enough that the high-school student quickly understood that she was trying to remain out of the radars.

They exchanged small and simple conversation for a time until the metro stopped at Shinjuku's station. They made their way outside of the wagon together and exited the underground basement. Just before leaving the stairs and ending in the open air, they came face to face with three people with whom they had become quite familiar with from the previous night.

All people's eyes widened before various shade of smile made their way on each of the faces. Kurono was the first to speak. "Kato! Old man! Inaba-san!" he exclaimed eagerly. They greeted each other before making their way to the shop entitled 'Gama Candy'. Suzuki already knew of the place so the group just needed to follow his indication and direction.

They made their way quickly and were quite surprised to discover that Naruto's store was in the main street of Shinjuku, despite being at the end of it. The area of the massacre was still marked by policemen and not open to public but they easily avoided any trouble.

Suzuki was the one to ring the doorbell. Less than five second later, a background noise informed them that someone was making his way to open. Having expected the blond shop's owner, they were quite surprised to discover Daizaemon Kaze in the doorway. The man was wearing the same clothe they could remember from yesterday and greeted them with a quiet nod.

The martial artist stepped aside to allow entrance for the whole team before closing the door. "Master is upstairs and waiting for you," he indicated shortly. He walked further inside the shop and they followed suit, taking in the sight of the store's display. The colors and odors impregnating the place were particularly exhilarating.

They chose not to comment on the 'Master' title the giant of the man had used but could not prevent a slight flash of surprise to cross their features. If the martial artist noticed, he made no comment on it.

Kaze lead the group across the store and toward the stairs. The seven of them made their way to the first floor and were awarded with the sight of a grand saloon with kitchen and dining area with, of course, Naruto, but also Sakurai and Sakata present on the couches.

Naruto stood up from the sofa. "Hey everyone !" he smiled with enthusiasm. The two psychics were quick to imitate their host and they exchanged rapid but warm greetings. It helped that the blond naturally seemed to create an atmosphere that put everyone at ease. Naruto shook hands with everyone and kissed Reika's cheeks in a welcome manner. The young idol turned a light shade of red but was reminded of the fact that the blond had spent several months in USA where kissing as a greeting form was quite common.

Naruto indicated for each of them to take sit around the coffee table. Two clones popped into existence and were quick to bring from the kitchen three additional bottles of lemonade and numerous plates of sweets. The clones' appearance attracted some attention but no one asked about them for the time being.

They made small talk first, mainly about the situation in Shinjuku and the various troubles people had encountered on their way. Backgrounds of certain persons were explored a bit further, something that Naruto proposed in order to consolidate the bonds between each of them. Kakashi's words still rang very true in his ears, ' _those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash'._ Perhaps it was the fact he had always worked with those words in mind that he couldn't help but try. He knew no better and wanted to work with things he was familiar with. It was easier this way.

Sakata and Sakurai talked a bit about themselves, seeing no problem in telling the others about their power. Kaze barely released any information so Naruto took upon himself to tell what little he knew about the man. There had been no harm done, the martial artist being more reserved than wary about his story. It helped when his 'master' told him that the purpose of the talk was to forge a team's spirit. He could easily respect the warrior's approach of the matter which drew some chuckles from the rest of the group.

Suzuki talked a bit about his life too, how he had loved and lost his wife but held no remorse on the matter. He was glad for what had been his life so far. Reika and Inaba did not reveal much for their part. Reika was a high-school student, something that surprised Naruto as he had thought she would be older than that –perhaps even older than him–. Inaba was a designer who had been shot during the Shinjuku's incident.

Naruto revealed the same information he had shared earlier –about him being from another plane in existence, the fact his people could access chakra to manage superhuman feats and other–. "I don't think I'm alien... well, I can't be sure of course. More some kind of alternate human from a dimension that could have evolved differently than this one".

"Did you try to go back to your place?" Kurono asked with curiosity. Frankly, after everything that had happened with Gantz, he was not really surprised by the blond's explanation. The others around him were of a similar mindset.

The shinobi shrugged his shoulders. "During the first year. Some shinobis from my home could use dimension wrapping techniques but it's far too advanced for me. The only thing I had a hope that could have worked ended with me nearly blowing up myself, so I'm not too eager to try that again," he informed. The Summoning technique had become quite the tricky bitch since he came here, ending in nothing but self-directed explosion. And he was far from being competent enough in seals to do something like advanced space-time techniques.

The discussion basically turned to the others voicing one or two comments about his situation. He informed them about some of the things from his world –mostly information about chakra and regular shinobis– but did not dwell on the topic too much. All of his personal experiences were thankfully not brought in the open.

"Have you considered the fact that perhaps it was something related to Gantz that brought you here?" Kurono asked in wonder. Naruto raised a brow, inviting him to expose his theory. "I mean, Gantz is capable of transporting people and even revive them. It wouldn't be too far-fetched that it's the reason you ended up here".

That... actually made sense. The kid was sharp of mind. His eyes narrowed in speculation. "Perhaps. But I doubt it," he simply exposed. For one, he appeared in the middle of nowhere when he came here, not in front of a black sphere. Furthermore, he doubted that him appearing here was the effect of something from this plane of existence. It was far more plausible to believe that he had been sent here by someone from his own dimension. After all, Obito, Kakashi, Kaguya –the rabbit bitch– and Sasuke had been around at some point and all of them had been users of some weird space-time techniques. He doubted that the black sphere was able to allow the crossing of world or dimension.

He chose to quickly discard this particular subject and went onto something far more actual. "The missions you did before this one," he declared to both Kurono and Kato, "what were they like?"

The students shared a quiet glance between each other and found no reason to avoid answering. They informed them of the way they died the first time in a metro station. A lot of the discussion then turned around the subject of the missions they had been compelled to achieve. Naruto asked many things on the matter. Their first mission with the beautiful Kei Kishimoto –another one Kurono said he wanted to bring back to life if possible– and Nishi Joichiro. They talked about the various aliens they had encountered and Naruto stored the precious information in his mind –the Onion alien, Tanaka's alien and their anthropomorphic muscular bird-like boss, the various living statues in the Buddhist temple where many hunters in the mission died with Kurono being the only one left, and lastly the shorty-alien mission witch Kurono did by himself that ended in the massacre of his class–.

It served to make Naruto and the others realize that the Aliens could manifest in many different forms and there was no real general way to deal with them. They had to adjust their methods to the situation at hand.

The two long-time hunters and Naruto also talked a lot about the various weapons that were available and provided by Gantz. Naruto found out that the two others did not even know about the sword or some of the options in the controller. Better late than never, he supposed. The shinobi could not help but feel the small twinge telling him that those people were no ninjas nor even soldiers. Getting used with your gear beforehand was among the five first rules a ninja learnt for a mission.

A pause was marked after the exchange. They proceeded to take one or two candies and gulp one sip of fresh lemonade while the gears were quickly turning into the blond's mind. It took him at least half a minute to finally resume speaking. "Well, I think that's all for what I wanted to talk about," he admitted sheepishly. "Now, if you're ok with that, I'd like to go on the more practical aspect of the reunion". A clone came from his room, holding with him all the different equipments he had brought back from Gantz's room except for the suit.

"The program is quite simple for now. We will learn to become familiar with the weapons at our disposal. We will only look for the guns, the controller and the sword for now, not the suit itself. But I'd like to advise you for that one". He paused and took another sip for his glass. "You should start wearing it while you're alone at home. It will help you become accustomed with the various improvements it provides. We'll try to see each other several additional times before the next mission begins to try the suit but it's best if you're already used to it beforehand. Oh, and I advise you to always keep the suit on hand. We don't know for sure when Gantz will call us, maybe it'll even be tomorrow, so it's best to be prepared for the worst". They all nodded, easily understanding the logic of the statement.

Then, Naruto started informing everyone about the various weapons at disposal. Kurono and Kato helped him a few times but he basically managed to cover everything by himself. Even the very basic things were not passed under silence.

It was night when the conversation finally ended –past seven in fact–. Suffice to say, the group's dynamic appeared to work quite well and bonds already seemed to form. They had planned to meet each other the next Friday evening in an abandoned area to practice with the different weapons provided by the black sphere.

It was Kato first who finally decided to put an end to the evening. "I need to go back home," he informed in a light tone. "I promised my brother I would take him to eat outside tonight".

"Yeah, I'll leave as well, it's getting pretty late already and I've got school tomorrow," Kurono added. "Thank you for the evening Naruto-san," he conveyed to their blond host. "We'll see each other next week".

The others agreed wholeheartedly and soon bid their farewell to each other. Suzuki, Kaze, Inaba, Kato and Kurono left quickly after that toward the metro station. Reika and Sakurai remained behind a bit longer to help Naruto clean everything while Sakata stood near the stairs awaiting for his disciple.

"Thank you again for the evening, Naruto-san," Sakurai declared eagerly. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine for the next mission thanks to you".

The blond shrugged his shoulders. "I certainly hope so". He did not want for them to have false hopes. Training and preparation would only lower the odds to fail but would not bring them to zero. There were too many unknowns and parameters to plan for everything.

"You're coming, Reika-san?" the young psychic asked with a raised eyebrow. He was just near the stairs ready to leave with Sakata but the young idol was standing a little bit on the sideline. They had not said it out loud but he had figured she would leave with them.

She blushed cutely and averted her gaze, her eyes focused on a random place in the living room. "There's something I'd like to discuss with Naruto-san..." she spoke lowly without looking up at the shinobi.

Naruto stood still, blinking for ten seconds but made no comment. He finally turned to face the duo. "Well... I'll see you two later then. Don't hesitate to come to the shop before Friday. Not sure if it'll be open but you'll be welcome nonetheless".

"We will," Sakata answered easily. "Thank you once again in any case and have a good night". He then followed Sakurai down the stairs and both psychics exited the candy shop.

Naruto turned to face Reika and offered her a gentle smile. "How about a drink and we sit down before speaking?" he asked. The young idol nodded shyly and they were soon once again crouched on the sofas around the coffee table. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Reika gulped silently and tried to gather as much resolve as she could find in herself. "Hum..." Suffice to say, it wasn't working very well. "D-do you have a girlfriend?" She stuttered. "Currently, I mean," she added in an afterthought.

... Ah. Naruto was glad he was not holding his glass at the moment because he probably would have loosen his grip and let the material shatter on the ground. Was that what the sphere had meant when it had referred to her as _'Hunter's fan'_? He had already pondered on the thought after going home but had quickly pushed the matter aside. The black sphere had seemed to mock each of the participant, why would he need to take its words for truths? Some seconds passed in silence before he finally figured that Reika was obviously awaiting for his answer. "Well... I do not," he easily admitted.

Her eyes seemed to perk up a bit. "Oh... that's good," she silently muttered, her words directed more to herself than to him.

Another silence settled. Reika was struggling with her thoughts and Naruto decided to help her on that. He had never been one to beat around the bush anyway. "Reika-san," he called and immediately drew her entire attention. "Am I right to assume that, well, you want to ask me out?" His tone was hesitant. What if he had deduced wrong?

Reika blushed prettily but nodded nonetheless. "Yes..." she quietly responded.

Naruto's cheeks grew hotter. She was really cute and beautiful and those two qualities were even more put under the highlights now that he knew that she was interested in him. He tried not to let his eyes wander too much down her impressive cleavage. Perhaps he should give it a try...

"How about a dinner tomorrow night?" he asked. Reika perked up. "To be frank, I'm not really used to... well, romantic relationship. I think one of the most important thing in one is to know about each other and I kinda never told anyone before today the truth about my powers and origins. You already know a part of that but we still hardly know each other so... I can't really give you a definitive answer. But perhaps a dinner in a restaurant will help us on that matter". He marked a short pause to let the words sink into the young idol's mind. "What do you think?"

Reika smiled beautifully, managing to recover her confidence. "I'd love that. I know a good place near my home if it's okay with you". Naruto nodded. "I'll text you the address and we can meet there at seven tomorrow then ?"

"Yep. Sounds good to me," he agreed. He doubted he could invite her in one of Shinjuku's restaurant, they would probably be closed for a few weeks after what happened.

They ended the evening soon after that. Reika left the store with the promise to meet with Naruto the following night. When she disappeared behind the door, Naruto wordlessly created a clone and ordered him to follow her and keep her safe. It was not really late and lots of officers were still running the streets of Shinjuku but it was better safe than sorry.

Once it was done, Naruto closed the front door of the shop and turned the air conditioner to night mode. It had been a long evening with its lot of surprises but he was quite glad for what had come out of it. He was ready to climb the stairs and prepare for bed when someone suddenly knocked at the front door.

"... Kaze-san?" he asked with surprise coloring his tone of voice when his eyes settled on the one who was in the entrance.

The martial artist bowed somewhat awkwardly. "Master. Hum... do you have a spare room by any chance?"

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****

Hope you enjoyed ! See you in the reviews and until next time !


	5. Training Days

I forgot something in the previous chapter. Some answers to my reviewers ! Sorry about that.

The clones made by Naruto vanished after a single scratch. However, I had planned to use the suit provided by Gantz to make one (and only one) clone much more durable. It is further explained into this chapter.

Lemon, the question was asked many times. It's planned.

Someone asked me what mudras were. I never really paid attention to the term before, we use it a lot in French despite the term being a Japanese one. It means hand signs. Sorry for the trouble, I was not aware it was not used in English. I replaced the term with hand signs in my previous chapters and won't use the word again. Thank you for pointing it out to me.

No harem in this story, and no other character than Naruto from the manga Naruto. Kurama is out of the game, he won't even make an appearance in the story.

I did not watch the movies nor the anime for Gantz. I tried but I was not hooked by it so my only knowledge of Gantz is from the scans. I plan to watch Gantz-O at one point though, I watched the trailer and it was pretty catching.

This chapter is still the following of the break from the previous chapter. We go back to the mission next chapter.

Finally, I thank you all for the reviews. It's the fuel of any author writing on this website.

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere

Chapter 5 : Training Days

**** XoX ****

The centers were in place, Naruto pondered. He would need to start the edges next. Blue, white, red, yellow, green and orange little squares blurred, the pieces rotating around the internal pivot. Once the edges were in place, he started solving the top face and finally the last layer.

Each of the faces of the cube were now of one sole color. It had been quite fun solving the 3-dimensional puzzle. Rubik's Cube, eh ? He could understand why people were fond of the gadget. Even ninjas would find the toy enjoyable. It developed the brains, helped to create some automatisms and relaxed your hands and fingers. Many aspects of a shinobi's life that were explored with one simple gadget.

He spotted Reika from the corner of his eyes and quickly stowed the little toy away. He greeted her with a smile and a wave of the hand that she quickly reciprocated. According to the romantic movies and novels he had watched and read, he was supposed to make some comment, right ? Thankfully, he did not have to search very far, the words coming naturally at the sight of the young woman.

"Hello Reika-san. You look beautiful," he commented, his fingers nervously scratching the back of his head.

And indeed she did. She was wearing simple clothe but in a way that would put her beautiful figure forth. A tight jean easily gave away her marvelous curves and the white waistcoat she was wearing could not hide her impressive chest area. Even the coat that was covering her shoulders with fur on the edge did little to prevent his imagination from wandering.

Reika blushed at the compliment but decided to go with the flow and copy him. "Thank you. You're quite the looker as well," she commented smoothly.

He smiled and nodded in thanks. "Well, should we go?"

They entered the restaurant and quickly found a table for two to sit around. The place was lovely ‒in an old-fashioned Japanese's way with sliding doors and an opening on a backyard‒ and there were few people beside them. A soft music was playing in the background and fans fixed to the ceiling were working to give some fresh air.

A waiter came to give them the menu after a short while. Reika quickly made her choice, being familiar with the place. "The roasted eel and the chicken with honey and sesame are quite good," she advised. "The ramens and the vegetable mix are supposed to be fine as well but I never tried them yet".

... Oh. Then, it was settled. Naruto's eyes seemed to lighten up suddenly. "A miso ramen then, large portion," he declared to the waiter.

The waiter nodded and left the table. Reika smiled slightly. "Quite the fan of ramen I take it then ?"

The blond shinobi grinned. "You have no idea. I'm better than when I was a child but I'll always be a ramen's fan," the Uzumaki admitted. "I used to hang out a lot with my friends in a small ramen stand when I was a kid and the boss and his daughter were always very nice to me". He did not feel the need to point out that at the time, those two people had probably been his only friends. Iruka came only later into the picture and the Sandaime Hokage had been way too busy and only used to hang out with him on rare occasions.

Reika smiled warmly at the genuine expression on his face. Just in a few words, the mood had cooled down and the ambient atmosphere quickly got to her. Perhaps she could try asking about some of the things she was interested to learn. "So, have you ever been in a serious relationship before ?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in slight discomfort. "No, never. Suffice to say, my life had been quite a troubled one before I came here. After that, I never encountered people with whom I could connect enough to consider a relationship. The fact I never mentioned my past to anyone before our group was not helping on the matter," he confessed somewhat grimly. The only things he had ever experienced when it came to romance were a first kiss with Sasuke, Sakura repeatedly punching him into the ground and Hinata's declaration just before she got stabbed and nearly died on the spot. Reika hummed softly and took a sip of her glass of cold water. "What about you?"

"Idols aren't supposed to date anyone," she admitted sheepishly. "I've never been with anyone before but after what we experienced last night, I just wanted to..." Enjoy life ? Find someone worth caring? Fall in love? Perhaps it was too soon to say those words yet. She could already feel the heat spreading on her cheeks. "... not regret anything," she finally decided in a quieter tone of voice.

Naruto smiled clumsily at that one. He could understand that ending victim of a large-scale carnage before being forced to participate in some twisted and life-threatening game could lead people to reflect on some aspects of their life.

The rest of their date played out easily and comfortably after that. Reika told him about her family living abroad. She rarely spent time with her parents so she had basically been self-raised. Becoming an idol had been a child's dream that she had been happy to make true. However, her interest in the activity was not what it once was and she could easily imagine quitting the job in the following year. Her producer and manager were trying to keep her in the business ‒she was one of the most famous idol after all‒ and they were perhaps the only reason she had not left the job yet. She confessed that after what occurred following the event of Shinjuku, she was more inclined than ever to resign. "The fact it could take on my time better spent with my boyfriend is something I'd rather avoid," she confessed quietly. Naruto's face turned perhaps as red as Reika's at those words.

The Uzumaki decided to reveal some of his personal experiences as well. Reika learned that his parents died the day he was born and that he grew up as an orphan in the Hidden Leaf's village. He talked about his teacher Iruka, his team and the various missions he had accomplished without delving too much into the details. The Chunin's exam and the death of the one he had seen as a surrogate grandfather, his meeting with Ero-Sennin and his training afterward. The search party for Tsunade and then the runaway of his teammate, Sasuke. He managed to avoid the topic of Kurama during the whole discussion. He was not comfortable enough to talk about that with her yet.

Reika listened to his story hanging on every word he uttered. She was astonished by all of the things Naruto told her but never once chose to doubt his words. She often let out a laugh or two along the meal, the blond shinobi managing to greatly lighten his story with humor and respect. Even the deaths of people he had cared about ‒Haku or the Sandaime Hokage‒ were the seeds for wisdom and concept Naruto still kept close to his hearth. The Will of Fire and the bonds you forged with your precious people...

"So, I left the village with Jiraya-sensei for three whole years," he concluded. "It's when I came back that things really got out of control. I told you about that organization Akatsuki, right?" She nodded. "Well, those guys were no jokes in my world". And wasn't it the understatement of the year ? "We weren't aware of how much it was true before we confronted them though and it's the reason why it cost us so much". He turned silent then, staring forward as though seeing in his mind's eye what he was describing to her. He could still remember some of the nightmares that the member of Akatsuki could unleash. S-class nukenins, uh?

It was only a couple of minutes later that he realized he had basically zoned out. Reika was gazing at him with a mixture of sadness and compassion, something he absolutely abhorred seeing on her beautiful face. His eyes turned down in shame. "Sorry about that. I did not mean to dwell too much on the matter. I... I lost many things back then," he confessed grimly. _And speaking about them is making my heart ache_... he ended silently.

There was something that Reika had started noticing in the blond since the first time her eyes met his. His emotions could easily influence an entire room. Sometimes, those emotions could even turn overwhelming. In the restaurant, the people around them had strangely stopped talking despite ignoring the reason why themselves and even the music was just ending in an odd twist of fate.

Silently, she placed a comforting hand on his and sent his way a somewhat awkward smile that she wished as genuine as possible. A second passed before his lips bent upward once again. In the wake of his timid smile, other people around resumed their conversation and the music changed to another title. Naruto's hand shifted under hers as he gently grabbed her open palm and squeezed. Her heart's pace suddenly raced and seemed to beat like thousand drums.

"... I'm a complicated man with a complicated background. The me you know and the me I truly am... they might not be as close as you'd like to" the shinobi admitted.

"Perhaps, but what I already know about you isn't a lie. It's enough for me," the idol answered without flinching. There was sheer conviction in her voice. "Additionally, the same could be said about me. For instance, I'm particularly stubborn and determined to get what I want," she indicated with a teasing tone.

It served to bring a soft smile onto the blond's lips. Stubborn, huh ? "I think... I'd like to give a try to this relationship thing," he spoke quietly enough that she was the only one to hear him. Her heart skipped a beat but the smile that made its way past her lips afterward told it all.

They were a couple.

They left the restaurant soon after. It was ten in the evening but with Reika having school the following day, Naruto did not wish for her to go back home too late. They spoke a bit on the way to her apartment. Reika was planning to resign from her job and so would have her Tuesday's afternoon full with the procedure. They promised to have another date on Wednesday's night though, this time to go out and see a movie.

"Well... this is it," Reika informed in front of the apartment of the building she was living in. "I'll be busy tomorrow but I'll see you soon on Wednesday".

"You're sure you don't want me to come with you to see your manager tomorrow ?" Naruto asked while warmly squeezing her hand in his palm.

She smiled sweetly and took one step ahead to reach his lips. Taking one second to let the surprise fade from his mind at the gesture, Naruto pressed her slightly against him, enjoying the contact of this first kiss with guilty pleasure. She was so soft and delicate. He could feel her timid smile on his mouth and her curves pressing all over his body. She tasted of vanilla from the cup of ice cream she had ordered for dessert. There was no comparison with the kiss he had once shared with Sasuke.

.

.

.

Gosh, where had that thought come from ?

They separated after a couple dozens of seconds, each smiling shyly but happily at the other. The red on their faces was not solely coming from the cold temperature of the evening anymore.

"I'm sure. I don't want my manager to learn that I have a boyfriend right now. I wouldn't hear the end of it, I swear," she answered lightheartedly. The kiss had been taken on an impulse but she was glad for its outcome. "But once I'm free from all of this idol's business, I expect to spend as much time with you as possible".

Naruto blushed slightly but smiled all the same. He kissed her with more passion than their first time. She was truly adorable and oh so desirable. The fact she did not hesitate in kissing him back made the thing even more alluring. He took the time to enjoy the contact as much as he could despite the fact that they were both clearly new to the experience.

"I promise," he finally responded.

She squeezed his hand and offered him one last beautiful smile before leaving toward the door of her apartment.

He was already looking forward to seeing her again.

**** XoX ****

The new student was clearly a work of the art in the making. He was quick and sharp, the strength behind each of his strikes drilling through most of the defenses that his opponents could come up with. He had already laid out Renka and Taichi, two of his best students. The only ones above the two in the martial art school were Genda, his young boy-wonder, and himself.

Zatoichi, renowned sword master and former number two of Kendo in Japan, frowned. This young man, Menma, was certainly no ordinary student. If it wasn't for his lack of forms and technique, he would be a match for even the greatest swordsman. However, he could already notice the change in the young man's stances and motions since he arrived. He was learning at an insane rate, copying the style of his opponents with nearly sheer perfection and mixing it with his already existing technique.

He had been here for no more than two hours and, already, Zatoichi could affirm that his form was on par with his own boy-wonder, Genda ‒the one he hoped would one day manage to do what he could have not, achieve the rank of number one‒. Their match was happening next and every student in his school could be seen standing around the ring, watching the events unfold with evident expectation.

The fight would be called in ten points.

Both combatants raced at each other. Menma got the first point. Genda was studying him it appeared. Then, his long-time student managed to land point two and three in a swift but brilliant succession of attacks. Menma evened the match a minute later by claiming point four. Then, with impeccable form, he managed to mark point five, and then six. He appeared almost unstoppable and Genda became quickly overwhelmed.

Something strange happened next. Genda managed to come back into the game and touch his opponent for point seven. A minute passed during which the two opponents traded blows and chirurgical strikes. Genda marked point eight, then nine. The match ended one and a half minute later with Genda finally claiming point ten. Both fighters were covered in sweat and breathing heavily.

In the end, Menma got four points, Genda six. The room exploded in a thunder of applause. Only Zatoichi had managed to notice the change in rhythm at the middle of the fight. He did not applaud. It had been... strange.

Everything had seemed right, but his instincts were screaming at him that it had been anything but. Both combatants saluted before walking off the ring, heading toward the locker rooms and showers.

Zatoichi quickly left the spectator area and made his way toward the area where Menma had disappeared. However, when he arrived, the blond was nowhere to be seen among the other students. He was not aware of it yet, but he would not see the boy known as Menma ever again.

Miles away, Menma suddenly appeared in the store 'Gama Candy'. The henge he was wearing faded away revealing the face of Naruto behind the illusion. Later during the night, he would receive memories of clones who had visited various Kendo, Battôjutsu, Bô-jutsu and Kenjutsu's schools. He'd even receive the memory of a clone who went to a French fencing club in Tokyo.

The legend of 'Menma' would grow over the martial world in the coming days like none before. But there was no need for Naruto to know about that.

**** XoX ****

"So, what do you have in mind for tonight?" Reika asked.

Naruto hummed softly. He had thought about what to do for training with the others long and large. "I have a few ideas that will take us the whole night. I'm not sure I want to spoil you the surprise though".

The former idol arched an eyebrow. The tone her boyfriend had used was nothing short of conspicuous. "... Should I be worried ?"

The Uzumaki paused in thoughts. He knew that Kaze, Kurono and Kato would understand the necessity of it. Perhaps Sakurai and Sakata would be open-minded enough to not hate him at the end of the training session. But for Reika, Suzuki and Inaba... well, he was doubting that they would be as forgiving as the others. "... Gantz will sent us on a mission to kill monsters and survive in an unfamiliar environment. I plan to train you to do just that".

Her hand left the warmth of his palm. A cute frown made its way past her face. "I'm not sure anyone can be fully prepared to deal with that sort of thing," she indicated. Naruto did not know how to respond to that statement. He had basically been trained his whole life to do that kind of mission and knew that sometimes even the best of plan could turn to be insufficient. And he only had a few weeks to prepare them. "But I trust you and I will do my best," Reika reasoned.

The shinobi lightly nodded. They walked another minute before finally coming onto the wasteland where the team had planned to have their meeting. Hundreds of wrecked cars, buses and even some broken pieces of planes made up the landscape. It was not the best place to meet but they would be safe from prying eyes. Plus, they could basically wreck havoc without fear of causing important damage.

His ocean blue eyes wandered left and right. All of the others were already present, each one of them wearing the black bodysuit under some baggy clothes. Reika was wearing her own suit under her large coat as well. They were ready.

They greeted each other with few words before gathering in one place for a more serious talk. Naruto and Kurono carried large bags in which were some weapons directly coming from the room of Gantz. Suzuki, Sakurai, Kato and Sakata came to stand next to the later. Inaba and Kaze stood a bit on the side but still close enough to be at hearing distance from the Uzumaki. Reika decided to leave the blond's side and joined Suzuki while the ninja sat down on top of one piece of old metal. Facing the others with an unblinking stare, he crossed his hands and fingers in front of him.

"Well... now that we're all ready to start, there are several things we need to discuss and see among us first".

He took out from his bag several electronic gadgets. It was Kato who spoke first at the sight of the little devices."Are those... walkie-talkies ?"

The shinobi nodded. "Yes. Gantz supplies us with many weapons but none among them allow us to communicate. I already blocked the walkie-talkies on one single channel. You just need to turn it on. You automatically listen and you need to push this button to speak," he informed while showing them how it was done, the sound of static echoing from the equipment. It was the most basic form of the technology but it would be more efficient during the mission that way. "I also purchased earphones that can be plug into the walkie-talkie in case you need to remain silent. I will keep the walkie-talkies with me but you should at least learn how to use them before the mission," he indicated while giving them one walkie-talkie per person.

They eyed at the devices and were quick to understand how it was supposed to work. As Naruto pointed out, it was truly basic technology. "It's a good idea," Kurono commented. "But what of the others who will appear for their first time in the room with us?"

Naruto shrugged noncommittally. "We will ask them to stay near us for the whole length of the mission".

Kurono simply nodded in agreement. He just wanted to know if they were all on the same page.

Once the subject of the communications was cleared, Naruto quickly moved to the next topic of conversation he wanted to address. "Now comes the second point I wanted to talk about. The possibilities of having smaller teams to move on the battlefield rather than the lot of us put together". Before any one of them could ask about that, he resumed speaking. "We might have to split up to take care of all of our targets. We might be forced to confront several enemies at once. Anyway, it's best to be prepared for the eventuality so I designed several combination for smaller teams among us to move independently".

Naruto grabbed from his bag a small white board this time. Using a marker, he quickly went to write down the names of everyone separated into two columns to show how he had planned to form the teams. "We are currently nine players. I thought of two formations we could work with. The first formation plans for us to be divided into two groups more or less well-balanced".

On the left side of the board were the names of Naruto, Reika, Kaze, Suzuki and Sakurai. On the right side were the names of N0, Kurono, Kato, Inaba and Sakata.

"N0?" Sakata asked a question in the minds of several of them.

Naruto nodded. "A clone of me wearing the G-suit. I tested it already and it works. The weakness of my clones dispelling after a single scratch is basically negated until the suit runs out of power. My clones can't use a few of my abilities but it's better than nothing. This way, there'll be five people in each group. I built up those two teams with the aim for them to be as well-balanced as possible but if you have any problem with your placement, don't hesitate to voice it out".

A short silence was marked there, each person thinking on the matter. For what they could understand, the teams seemed indeed well-balanced. Naruto, Kaze, Kurono and Kato were the heavy hitters of the group with the experience to back it, so the fact they were equally separated appeared logical. Sakurai and Sakata, the two psychics, were in different team to help with their peculiar powers if necessary. In the end, there was only one remark that Kurono could come up with. "The teams are good for what I can see. But if your clone is in fact wearing the suit, does it mean that you won't ?"

Naruto nodded. If that was the only problem they could think of, the teams were decided. "Indeed I won't. But I have other mean than the suit to increase my power, don't worry about that". Sennin Mode immediately came to mind. "Frankly, I'm even concerned that the suit would be more of an inconvenience than a benefit regarding some of my abilities".

Kurono paused in thoughts, processed the words and finally nodded. He would trust the shinobi on that point. For what he had seen so far, he got absolutely no reason to doubt him. All of the ideas he had come up with so far were really good ones. He could already imagine how much more efficient they would be for the next mission.

"Everyone is okay with the teams then ?" the former jinchuriki asked one last time. They all nodded silently. He erased the white board and started writing names once again. "Let's move on then. The second formation is for us to be divided into five autonomous duos based on synergy. It would allow us to move discreetly and strike efficiently. We could use that formation to track several aliens or even confront one single powerful monster from five different directions. The duos are as followed," he concluded, finally allowing the others to glance at the board.

This time, the duos were based more on how well one person could work with another rather than the balance of power between the different duos. It was logical once again considering that it would be hard to balance such small group of persons.

Naruto and Reika formed the first duo. Then came the obvious partnership of Kurono and Kato as well as the one of Sakata and Sakurai. The last two duos consisting of Suzuki-Kaze and N0-Inaba were more to evenly separate the rest of them than based on synergy though.

They talked a bit about the teams and in the end, everyone agreed on the possibility of splitting the group during the mission. Small groups of two could sometimes be much more efficient than a large group of many. One could serve as bait for an ambush, one could scout the enemy etc. There was little debate on the very composition of said teams, each person finding them appropriate and in a way still well-balanced.

"I feel as if we're becoming some sort of unit commando," Inaba commented matter-of-factly with a tired sight. "I suppose it's not so bad considering the situation".

Naruto nodded to the man. "Truth be told, everything I explained until now is inspired by what I learnt about your world's military. But in the end, it's closely similar to mine's. Basics are the same, it's just our individual capacities and the weapons at our disposal that differed". He paused a second on that thought before resuming speaking. "There's one last thing I wanted to talk about before we start the real training". He marked a pause once again, giving the time for everyone to refocus their attention on him. "I wanted to talk about the positions of each person in the group. It would particularly matter if we're split up into two groups of five or if we're all together in one place against some powerful opponents".

Nobody made any comment, waiting for Naruto to expand his thoughts. The blond cleared his throat and allowed his eyes to wander on every person facing him. "This time, it's not inspired by military but more on... well, video games," he stated, noticeably embarrassed. It served to draw a few raised eyebrows from the group "Basically, it sorts people into three categories. The first category are the close range fighters, the ones who are in charge of dealing with the monsters hand to hand thanks to the suit or using the sword. They are also the ones responsible for keeping the aliens busy and away from the others if possible". He paused shortly to let his words sink into the brains of everyone. "Second category are the mid range fighters and supporters. They have a preference for the X and Y guns and need to always remain focus on their surroundings. If the close range fighters are dealing with a monster, they need to keep any other aliens from interfering. They also provide support to the close range fighters when possible with their X-gun or Y-gun. Ideally, they don't even have to touch the enemy". Another pause, they all remained silently pondering and he continued. "Finally, the third category are the snipers. As the name indicates, they are the long range fighters but their role is not limited to that. They also keep a look on the whole battlefield and inform the others if any additional monsters is coming their way. Their weapon of predilection is the X-shotgun but they still need to be prepared in case an enemy manages to come close. I plan to have a couple of clones near them to assure their protection in that case". Well, he would see how things would turn out. For the moment... "Everyone understand ?"

They took some time to think on the whole matter but finally nodded after a whole minute. Naruto took that as his sign to inform them of what was coming next "I already took the liberty to assign each member of the group to a position. Keep in mind that I didn't see every one of you fight so your role could easily change. We will need to adapt. Additionally, some of us can assume more than one single position during a fight. For instance, I put myself into a position of a close to mid range fighter. Understand ? Yes ? Good". His eyes went to the one on the far left of the group in front of him. "Kaze, you're close range. No surprise here I hope ?"

The martial artist grinned. "None, master," he responded strongly.

Sky blue eyes deviated slightly to the right. "Kato-san. I've never seen you fight before but from what you've told me, mid range sounds pretty good to me, right?" The aforementioned nodded. "Kurono-san, like me, I'd place you in close to mid range. Is that okay with you?"

The high school student nodded, seeing no problem with that. "I'll do my best".

"Old man, you're mid range". Suzuki nodded silently without surprise. "Reika-chan, you told me you practiced Kyudo in college for two years, right ?"

The idol blinked once but quickly composed herself. "Yes".

"Sniper then, but we will need to see how you deal with the X-shotgun tonight. You're alright with that ?" A sweet smile bloomed on her face before she nodded. Naruto followed quickly with the next person. "Sakurai-san, Sakata-san, you're both mid range. Your powers to directly damage the insides of monsters should be a tremendous assistance for the close range fighters". Both psychics nodded easily, perfectly accepting the point of the ninja. "Finally, Inaba-san. Frankly speaking, I'm not sure of which position would better suit your taste. A second sniper would be great but in reality, one is enough. We will need to consider after the training tonight". The man nodded imperceptibly.

Naruto sighed tiredly, glad that this part of the meeting was finally over. "Well... that's all I wanted to talk about before we begin. Keep in mind however that all of the things we discussed here are so we can be ready to face unusual development. In reality, we might not need to split up into smaller teams or even work with close, mid and long range positions in mind to complete the mission. Those things are only precautions and possibly backup plan". To expect the unexpected had been one of his village's motto after all.

They all nodded. Naruto's explanations had taken more than one of them by surprise. It was impressive and quite amazing that such young man could live up to the expectations of the whole group. Subsequent to his long presentation though, all of their previous doubts were now nothing but mere memories.

**** XoX ****

They had all moved to the middle of the wasteland, the group still facing Naruto who was standing tall in front of them. They had discarded all the clothes they had been wearing over the G-suit and were now quite a sight to behold.

"Alright," the former jinchuriki exclaimed. "We can now begin the actual physical part of this training session ". He paused and everyone listened. "Frankly speaking however... we don't have the time to train your body and for you to increase your strength and reflexes. You can only train in how to use your suit and the weapons provided by Gantz with at least minimum efficiency". There was no real surprise here but the shinobi could still notice some disappointment here and there. "Kurono-san and Kato-san would be more than able to teach everyone about that". Both students arched an eyebrow but still nodded."However, despite the little time we have, there's still something I can train you in".

He took a breath. That was the part of the training he had not looked forward to. "I'll teach you not to stand still paralyzed by fear while facing overwhelming odds. This is basically the most important thing when you're involved in a life or death's situation. If you're unmoving, you die. You need to move, to act and to think no matter how desperate the situation can appear".

There was a pregnant pause mixed with a very tense silence. They could all agree with the fact that the statement had been nothing short of nerve-racking, except perhaps for Kaze. But how could one be prepared to face a death's hazard situation ? It was basically the question asked by Sakurai. "How will you possibly train us to do that ?"

"The most simple method," Naruto answered right away, "would be to drop each one of you in one of those situation but with a safety net. It's how we proceeded in my village, with a sensei accompanying the students on the mission to ensure that they'd not die". It was basically the purpose of the C-rank missions, that and getting used to killing and death. Even if facing Zabuza had been a little excessive, the purpose of a C-rank mission for his team had still been completed at the time. Everyone in front of him gulped in unease, suddenly quite wary of the blond. "But, well, the method is not really practical. I want you to be prepared before those kind of situations happened after all," he declared, insisting particularly on the 'before'. "Instead, there's another method specifically designed for what I want to do. It's very simple, you'll see".

The next instant, a wave of potent killing intent spread over each person in front of the shinobi. Inaba, Reika and Suzuki nearly collapsed under the pressure. Sakurai and Sakata clearly felt a shiver run up their spine and visibly shook. Kaze, Kurono and Kato only widened their eyes and stood mouth slightly agape but the three still managed to move into a defensive stance, alert and ready to bounce.

"Wh-what the hell ?" Kurono shouted. It was like that time in the room with Izumi before the mission.

"Th-the pressure", Kato exclaimed, his voice wavering. It felt as if he had been thrust butt naked into freezing water.

Naruto remained standing still, his eyes cold and unforgiving. He did not release one iota of killing intent yet. The feeling was not really concentrated but against civilians, even that amount would be enough to freeze them on the spot. The fact three among the group were putting up with it admirably well was in fact remarkable.

He finally stopped projecting his killing intent. Reika, Suzuki and Inaba instantly went down to their knees. The rest of the group released heavy breaths and were eying warily in his direction. Naruto did not wait for them to gather their resolve before speaking. "When you're dealing with a life-threatening situation, your brain sometimes just freezes on the spot. My people learnt to endure and control this feeling to the point that they could impose it on the minds of the others. We call it killing intent or KI for short. We basically project our will upon the others. The more you fight, get stronger and kill, the more potent your KI becomes". He marked a pause with a sigh. This was clearly not something he had wanted to share but it would be the simplest way to accomplish what he had intended. "What I'm going to do is teach you how to endure this kind of killing intent. You'll need to learn how to think, move and fight even when under the pressure of my KI. If you succeed, you'll basically be able to think and react even in face of overwhelming odds or when confronted to your own death. Not freezing on the battlefield is rule number one to survive. It's what we will focus our training on. That, and mastering the weapons provided by Gantz".

**** XoX ****

Naruto had had each of them facing a clone of his while under the pressure of his killing intent. Every weapon had been authorized and they had been free to battle the clone in any possible way they could think of.

As predicted, Naruto's method of training had not been very well received by some among the group. Oh, they could with no trouble see the benefit of it. But there was a gap between understanding it and complying with it.

Kaze had easily managed to dispel his clone the first time. He had then made it a personal challenge to resist as much killing intent as possible from the blond. And the Uzumaki had been impressed. Even with his pure will forced upon the martial artist, the shinobi only managed to make him flinch and shudder but not completely freeze. It testified of the strength of will of the man. Despite not being as strong as accomplished ninjas, Kaze's fighting spirit and mind were almost on par with Lee's. The fact Naruto's KI had never been as powerful as many other more bloodthirsty ninjas was probably part of the reason as well. His number of kills was in fact particularly low compared to most jônins.

Kurono and Kato had been the ones agreeing with Naruto to use that method for training and even helped convincing the others to do so. The Uzumaki could basically recreate the stress of a life-threatening situation without its dangers. In their eyes, it was probably the best way to prepare them for the missions. Both had also resisted well despite not being on par with Kaze.

Sakurai and Sakata had been realistic enough to see the benefit of the method. They had improved by leaps and bounds after just one single night. The fact Naruto found it unusually hard to impose his will upon them ‒probably a side effect of their quirk‒ was likely one of the main reason they had done so well.

Predictably, the method had been a little less well-received by Reika, Inaba and Suzuki but not in a way as bad as Naruto had imagined.

Reika had been stubborn enough to try again and again. She had improved slowly but surely on the matter. She'd have one hell of an headache at the end of the night but it would be gone the following day and her progress would not.

Suzuki had clearly not been fond of the method but had complied nonetheless. His expressions and reactions had been apparent enough though. His progress had been slower than Reika but he had still improved by quite a bit.

In the end, Inaba had been the most reluctant of the lot and only the group's dynamic had pushed him to this point. He had complained and consequently had not really managed to improve much. He at least had acknowledged the gain of the training's method for the others and had promised to try harder next time despite lacking the motivation to do so.

Naruto hoped it would change sooner rather than later. Perhaps the next mission would make the man realize how important these preparations were.

It was their first night of training and they were planning to have another similar just next week. Naruto had not pushed them too hard and had stopped immediately when asked. There was no reason to alienate some people among the group against him, they would have to deal with enough enemies during the mission as it was.

The former jinchuriki frowned. Perhaps he was asking too much from them. He had considered that possibility of course. Problem was, he ignored how to prepare them efficiently enough given how little time they had at disposal. He hoped his method would bear fruits without discouraging them. Training using KI on civilians' minds was slightly barbaric and it was the reason why it had only been used in period of war at the Academy of Konoha. Still... he could not think of any other training method.

With Kato and Kurono, they had also taken care of showing everyone how to handle the various weapons. Kurono even tried his hand with the sword and discovered to be quite skilled with it.

As predicted, Reika proved to be more than a match for the position of sniper, managing to handle the X-shotgun with amazing talent. She was not bad with the other weapons as well and managed to draw strength from the suit but long range was really her field of expertise.

Inaba proved to be not on the same level as her with the rifle so ended up with a mid range position among the group. It was Kato who turned out to be quite the good surprise though. The guy was as good with the X-shotgun as he was with the other weapons. His position as a mid range fighter had therefore been extended to mid to long range.

Watching everyone practicing the various weapons or battling under killing intent with his clones, Naruto nodded mentally to himself. They were not ready. Truthfully, they would never become fully prepared for what was to come considering the fact the unexpected was waiting for them. But one thing he was damn sure of was that their chance of survival had been greatly increased thanks to this one night.

**** XoX ****

Later in the evening when they decided to put an end to the training session, everyone bid their farewell before splitting up. Kato, Kurono, Reika, Naruto and Kaze travelled the same route. It was perhaps eleven in the evening and the air had turned fresh. They had put back their clothes over their G-suits and were walking slowly as one group.

"So, you two are dating each other ?" Kurono asked, his eyes directed at the linked hands of Naruto and Reika.

Both hummed in affirmation but it was Reika who responded with a soft smile blooming on her lips. "Yes, for a few days actually". Her warm and happy tone managed to make the four men share a comparable grin.

Naruto squeezed her hand softly. "It's been great in fact," he informed while looking directly at his girlfriend. "Reika stopped working as an idol and we have seen each other every day since then".

Blushing slightly next to the two loving birds, Kato chose to end this trail of the conversation. "Are you still working with Naruto-san, Kaze-san ?"

The martial artist arched an eyebrow but responded nonetheless. "No, I just helped master one time with his job as a thank you. I found a place to crash in a nearby motel while waiting to find something better. I have to concentrate on the training regimen master gave me," he indicated with a proud tone.

Naruto sweatdropped. He had just given the man a few pointers, nothing more. Apparently, the label of 'master' would be hard to drop.

Kato nodded awkwardly before returning his attention on the blond shinobi. "So, are you currently looking for someone to help you in your job, Naruto-san ?"

The shop's owner tilted his head back. "You're looking for a job ?"

Kato nodded. "Yes. I'm trying to collect money in order for me and my little brother to have a home of our own. But I'm a student and not many people want to hire someone who can only work after five pm and during the week-end".

Naruto acknowledged the statement and went to think on the matter. The gears in his mind worked for a dozen of seconds before coming to a decision. "Do you have a license ?"

Kato scratched the back of his head. "Only for small motorcycles".

Naruto nodded pensively. "I have something in mind that could interest you then," he informed the high school student. "I could use someone to do some deliveries. I got the project for some time but the occasion is just perfect right now". Kato's eyes seemed to lighten up, already liking the suggestion. "I'd provide the motorcycle of course. We'd need to discuss further on the matter but you'd probably need to work a few hours at night maybe... three or four days during the weekdays and Saturday morning".

Kato perked up, truly interested by the proposition. They discussed on the matter a little while but promised to meet each other during the coming week-end to make the thing official.

**** XoX ****

It was two weeks and a half after the dreadful mission and Naruto could be found relaxingly handling the few customers present in his candy store during this Tuesday's afternoon.

Things were doing great for the whole group of hunters. They had met for a second training session which had served to refine the skills of each member and they were seeing each other regularly. Honestly, the Uzumaki was pretty glad for how things had turned out so far.

Sakata and Sakurai had become regular customers in his shop while Suzuki kept coming by. He could easily admit that he was becoming good friend with the two psychics. Sakurai had even brought his girlfriend with him once. Well, to be fair, the boy had not confirmed nor denied if the girl had effectively been his girlfriend at the time but it had seemed pretty obvious to the blond.

He had also hung out with Kaze at one occasion outside of their group meeting for another fight and for Naruto to give the man some additional pointers and ideas. The martial artist had apparently moved to live in Suzuki's house but he was not really aware of the details of the situation.

Kato had started working for him as his delivery boy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday's nights and on Saturday's morning. He was coping amazingly well with his new job. He was serious, dedicated and gentle enough that he had even started helping Naruto in handling the customers when free from his other tasks. He was not particularly good in the kitchen but his communication skills were top-notch. His young brother had also visited a few times and had enjoyed the free candies coming from his brother's position.

His liaison with Reika was another thing that had turned out remarkably well. They had not crossed the important line of every couples' relationship yet ‒a.k.a, sleeping together‒ but were seeing each other almost every day. They were enjoying more and more the presence of the other in their life. Some magazine finding out about Reika and him dating had perhaps been the only cloud in their near perfect blue sky so far. Naruto had finally decided to reveal his entire life story but it had not changed anything in how she was treating him. On the contrary, she even made it her new goal to try as hard as possible to fill the shinobi's needs for happiness and affection.

She had managed extremely well so far. He doubted he could ever find someone else as loving, delicate and caring as her... _Well, as long as she stays out of the kitchen_ , he mentally corrected on a fond thought.

Naruto chuckled happily at that notion, his mind quickly coming back to the real world around him. "Here you go, Chiaki-san". He smiled good-naturally to one of his most loyal customer, extending his arm to hand her a massive box of sweets. "Chocolates, chocolates and more chocolates. You're sure you don't want to try something else for once ?" he voiced out half-asking half-teasing.

The young school girl gave the shop's owner a single nod before silently leaving the place. The action promptly conquered the smile Naruto wore seconds ago, drawing a tired sight from his lips. The girl was frequenting his store for more than two years now and he had never seen anything other than a constipated scowl plastered upon her face. Really, those teenagers were beyond troublesome.

.

.

.

He tried to avoid pondering on how ironic that thought was coming from him.

The doorbell rang before entered into the shop the figures of Kurono and another petite female student of comparable age. The brown-haired boy quickly noticed him behind the counter. He sent his way an enthusiastic wave of the hand before approaching. "Naruto-san," he called with a cheerful tone. "How are you ?"

"Quite tired honestly," he admitted smiling while leaning on the counter with his arms crossed. "I reopened last Wednesday but I should have taken a week more of break. It has been pretty much non-stop business since then". He paused and let his ocean blue eyes travel to the girl accompanying the teen. "And who's the lovely lady by your side ? Girlfriend ?" The fact they were holding hands perhaps made the question silly.

The petite woman nodded shyly in his direction. "A-aye," she responded meekly while seeming to raise from the boy's shadow. "My name is Tae Kojima. It's very nice to meet you".

Naruto blinked owlishly during a few seconds. She was cute and shy in a way very similar to Hinata. In fact, even her round face made him think of the timid Hyuuga girl he had known.

"Naruto Uzumaki. It's a pleasure to meet you too," he replied gently, giving her a slight bow of the head in return to her own.

Kurono smiled eagerly. "We both finished school early today so I thought about coming here. Plus, Tae-chan was quite keen in trying some of your candies".

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the girl whose face was slowly starting to gain a light shade of pink. "Oh, another sweet enthusiast ?" She nodded imperceptibly. "Well, let me show the both of you the samplings. I'm sure you'll find some among the whole lot that will match your taste".

Naruto guided them to the several baskets in the corner of the room next to his cash register. The couple thanked him and quickly went to try the free candies. Naruto advised them on some before going back to serve the other customers in his shop.

Life was good. Nearly as good as his sweets.

**** XoX ****

Chiaki entered the house with little enthusiasm in her steps. She glanced around the noisy place. Akira was sitting with some girl around a table but she ignored if she was human or vampire. She would guess on the later considering the fact that the others were not eying at her with hunger in the eyes.

Several vampires, mostly guys, were dispatched inside the room but in the end, she paid little attention to the lot. They were for the most part the boring type muscles with no brains.

When she had been turned into a vampire, she had been surprised to discover that, except for their diet, there existed practically no difference between humans and vampires. Both species included the good and the bad guys, the poor and the rich, the ones with power and the ones without a thing. Most were bad, most were little more than dirt, most held themselves in high esteem for no actual reason.

What a stupid lot...

But in the same way as in any other species, there were rare exceptions that clearly stood out from the pack. Not Akira of course. The boy was not bad, but not good as well. Smug even if he could sometimes act smart and display kindness. If she had to bet, she'd wager on the fact that he was not used to the whole vampire thing yet and had grown up with a silver spoon in the mouth.

She could not be compared to the brat. She had adjusted to this new world like a fish to water. Part of the reason was because she could hardly identify the difference between the before and the after. In her eyes, vampires and humans held little contrast. And having grown up in a yakuza's environment with a father leading one of the biggest branch in Japan, the sight of blood and violence was nothing new to her.

Chiaki ignored everyone and went to the stairs to join Hikawa on the first floor. When her eyes landed on his figure sitting alone at a table, she was reminded of her previous trail of thought.

Hikawa basically embodied the concept of the rare exception. There was something in him... something that had immediately called for her attention since the first time she met him. The fact he looked quite appealing to the eyes was just another bonus. He was oozing with the same aura of confidence she was used to recognize in her father but multiplied by a factor ten.

She took the chair facing him and served herself a glass of the liquor in front of the vampire boss. Hikawa barely glanced her way, never letting go of his guard and emotional mask. No doubt he was ready for a fight even here among his own kind. In fact, perhaps it was only one additional reason to evince caution.

They did not talk. They never truly did. She at least knew that he was mildly interested in her. Perhaps it was just curiosity but still. Why would he save her then turn her into a vampire otherwise ? He had never struck her yet despite the fact she was frequently hanging around him and she knew by experience that he was not above disposing of things that were causing him inconvenience. Perhaps the fact he had recently watched die three other vampire bosses was causing him some grief but she doubted it. Hikawa was not friend of anyone. For what she could tell, the best connection you could have with him was as a business partner.

She took a sip of her glass and allowed her eyes to wander to the side. She arched a single typical brow when her gaze landed on a poster stuck to the wall with printed on it a curious but familiar visage. "What's that ?" She asked with a blank tone.

The vampire boss glanced to the side to see what she was referring to before answering. "Some guy I'm looking for". Short, rude and completely uninformative. Typical Hikawa.

She decided not to beat around the bush. "I know the guy".

Something strange happened next. For the first time since the moment she met him, the vampire boss demonstrated a visible reaction of interest. Even if said reaction was resumed to just barely narrowing eyes. "You're positively sure it's him ? I have no time to waste on useless garbage".

She shrugged her shoulders, not bothered at all by his trashy talk. "Pretty sure, yes. The whiskers are a dead giveaway," she indicated.

He frowned this time, something she could categorically affirm that she had never witnessed before.

"What's his name ? And where can I find him ?"

She frowned in a minor show of discontentment but responded nonetheless. She was more interested in seeing Hikawa's reaction than she was willing to hide from him someone she had little association with. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. You can find him in Shinjuku at the candy shop 'Gama Candy'. He's the owner," she informed matter-of-factly.

Hikawa went silent after that, not even seeming to acknowledge her words. Perhaps she could ask him more information on the subject. She was curious to learn what this was all about. "You wish to kill him ?"

"... It depends," Hikawa answered after some seconds of tense consideration. Before she could dive further into her interrogation, he stood up and went to disappear behind a door on the first floor of the building.

The entire time, her gaze followed him until the moment the door closed on his back. She took another sip of her glass and tried to chase away the slight amount of annoyance she could feel rising up inside of her. She honestly hoped that the blond shop's owner would come out of it alive. Good candy's shops were so rare to find these days.

**** XoX ****

Nearly four weeks had passed since the mission and Naruto and Reika had decided to enjoy their Friday's evening with a lovely date at the blond's house. They had ordered pizzas to eat home and were currently enjoying a movie on the couch. The Uzumaki owned no TV but the screen of his large computer was big enough to provide good quality of image. A lone desk lamp was lighting the room where the only hearable sounds were the ones from the film.

Reika was entirely snuggled inside Naruto's strong embrace, her head in the crotch of his neck and her back on his chest. She could feel her boyfriend's fingers sometimes brushing against exposed naked spots of her skin, sending shivers of pleasure all across her body. His warm breath passing through her hair and tickling her forehead and left cheek only served to increase her rapidly rising arousal. The movie on the screen was as far in her mind as possible. She could not even remember the title. Something about a music box...

She cuddled even further into her lover's grip. Damn, could he not recognize the signs ? She had been ready since their first date but had figured it would have been too premature. But while she had managed to wait for this long, she had also always practiced heavy snuggling when they were alone together. So, perhaps now that he had become used to it, he could not see the difference between cuddling and _cuddling_.

All was so perfect... only one thing was still missing to complete the picture but she would rectify that point soon enough. Tonight preferably.

In fact, when Naruto responded to her snuggling by tightening his grip even more around her, she decided that it would definitively be tonight.

And then, they both felt it. Like a chill creeping the long of their spine to the base of their neck.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization and his grip around Reika immediately loosened. "It's Gantz. We're going to be transported to the room". They stood up in a hurry. "You have your suit with you ?"

Mentally cursing fate for the very bad timing, she still nodded. "In my bag. I just need to put it on". Naruto, Kurono and Kato had insisted enough on the subject during the training sessions that they now always had their bodysuit within arm reach.

Naruto acknowledged her words with a nod. "Kurono said we only had a couple of minutes before the transfer begins. Grab your suit but do not put it on yet". The former idol was quick to follow his instructions. "Good. Do you need anything else ?"

"You have the weapons and the walkie-talkies ?" she asked. She already knew the answer but it was better safe than sorry. Another lesson from their training. You couldn't be too prepared.

"Sealed on my wrist," he simply answered. "You need something to drink or to go to the bathroom ?"

"No, I'm good".

Naruto eyed at the room and went to shut the large bay window. The door of the house was already closed and his store on the ground floor ready for the night. He sighed and went to embrace Reika in a loving hug. He could sense the apprehension flowing through her body and quickly tried to comfort her. "We'll be alright. Remember your training, stay close and focused and everything will be okay. I promise".

Reika breathed in and out in his chest, finding reassurance in the words. He was right of course. They had prepared for that exact situation. She knew she could trust him, literally with her life.

They stood frozen together the next instant, sky blue and pitch black eyes never turning away from the others. The transfer started with Naruto but Reika encountered the same fate a few seconds later.

They were both gone from the house the next minute.

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****

Well... in this chapter starts the real romance. I hope you liked it.

Considering the rest of the chapter after the first scene, the idea of Naruto skimming the dojos and martial art schools was quite fun to write and imagine. I hope the training session went well with you, it's after all a good third of the whole chapter.

I used the idea that had been suggested to me by some reviewer to have Kato work for Naruto. I really loved the idea and could easily write my story with it so here we are.

I took some liberties regarding the personage of Chiaki. I think the story of her father being a yakuza boss could explain a lot on her temperament. However, this part of her is only the fruit of my imagination. The vampires are moving. They will have a different role here than in the original manga. I hope you'll like it.

And finally, everything is now ready for next chapter where a new mission will occur. I'm not sure if that mission will be divided into two chapters, I'll see when I get here.

I'm currently looking for a beta. I'm spending way too much time just checking my chapters and even then, there are still numerous mistakes. So if you're interested, send me a message.

I hope you enjoyed the reading. Please leave a review and see you next chapter.


	6. The Innocent Target

Hello everyone, it's been a long time, I know, but the story is far from being abandoned, don't worry about it. I found myself a Beta for this story, _Agurra of the Darkness_ , who helped me a lot in checking this chapter. Thank you for that man!

I also want to thank all my reviewers! The story had received great feedback since it started. I wasn't sure how many would welcome a crossover Gantz-Naruto considering the fact that the fandom is almost empty. I have to admit I have been pleasantly surprised.

Putting this matter aside, I hope you'll have a good read with this chapter!

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the world of the Black Sphere

Chapter 6 : The Innocent Target

**** XoX ****

Naruto and Reika materialized at the exact same time. He already had his suspicions but physical contact seemed to allow people to travel together during the transfers.

When they arrived, the only ones present were Sakurai, Sakata, and Inaba. They greeted each other quickly while another person was already materializing inside the room. Soon, the form of Kaze appeared and he acknowledged the presence of his 'master' with a nod. They were all wearing their suit.

Naruto and Reika quickly went to the hallway to do the same. Reika put on her G-suit and handed her regular clothes to her boyfriend who sealed them away. For his part, Naruto created a clone of himself, charged with a good deal of chakra, N0, who went to wear the skin-tight bodysuit. He broke the seal on his wrist and in a puff of white smoke appeared the walkie-talkies, along with several G-weapons. He grabbed the sword and controller before sealing away the other weapons. He picked up the bag containing the walkie-talkies and stepped back into the main room with Reika and N0 by his side.

Suzuki, Kurono and Kato had appeared while they were gone. They exchanged simple greetings before Naruto gave each person a walkie-talkie.

The next person to appear took most of them by surprise. The form of a woman, totally in the nude, gradually materialized in the room. It started with the head, then the chest, stomach and finally the legs. When the transfer ended, the woman fell down from her sitting position thanks to gravity. N0 immediately appeared by her side, preventing her head from impacting with the ground and laid her down.

Naruto walked to his clone and unsealed Reika's coat he had previously stored away. He covered the naked woman's body with the cloth to protect her intimacy and cast a worried glance at the others.

"What do you think happened to her ?" Sakata asked quietly.

A short silence followed before Kurono spoke. "It's practically the same situation as during our first time," he informed while sharing a careful glance with Kato. "The girl committed suicide in her bath back then and blood was covering her wrists".

Naruto checked just in case but there was no trace of blood on her hands. Before he could ponder further on the matter, the woman shifted on the ground. She blinked a few times and sat up, looking with blank eyes left and right. Her gaze travelled on every person in the room before she finally noticed her state of undress. She squealed and quickly covered her body as best as she could with the overcoat, trying in vain to sink into the ground with embarrassment. She also nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed N0's hand on her shoulder. Thankfully, the clone noticed her fearful expression and hastily removed his hand.

Naruto frowned at the action but made no comment for now. Someone else was gradually materializing inside the room. The Uzumaki motioned for his clone to take care of the matter with the others while he would keep an eye on the woman. He stood up and silently approached Reika. He tilted his head to whisper into her ear low enough that she would be the only one to hear his words. "She reacted badly to my clone's presence. Try to talk to her. She might be more at ease with another woman".

Reika nodded and quickly went to the woman's side. She did not recoil this time, confirming the blond's suspicions on the matter. The two women talked quietly while the guys stood aside as far as possible. Naruto still decided to direct a bit of chakra into his ears to follow the conversation.

A random man appeared, quickly followed by four other ones. The naked woman's eyes widened at their arrival and she desperately called for Reika's help. N0 noticed it as well and was swift in taking the matter in hands with the others. The original Naruto was the only one to direct his attention toward the two women.

Reika sent his way a worried glance and he discreetly nodded to her, making a vague motion with the hand. The former idol understood the veiled message and moved with the woman to the hallway.

Naruto frowned. Something he had not planned had occurred before the mission could even begin. He was not certain of it yet but...

He was broken out of his contemplation when a low-quality soundtrack started playing from the black sphere. The discussion between N0, the other of his group and the five men who had appeared stopped.

The sphere of Gantz switched on, immediately displaying the image of a dark and frightening horned helmet.

 _You guys are now going to defeat this guy :_

 _Ring Alien_

 _Characteristics : strong, big_

 _Likes : horses_

 _Dislikes : those who are smaller than itself_

 _Favorite phrase : N/A_

Naruto glanced at Reika who was at the door frame between the hallway and the main room. She was eying at him with concern on her face. The sphere opened.

N0 had informed all of the new guys of what was going on. They did not seem to believe him, but seeing how everyone else was already in the black bodysuit, they decided to put theirs on as well. Naruto went to the sphere and grabbed the only briefcase with the name of the girl written on it. He had least now knew her name... Ayaka Uranaka. He also picked up several weapons for her and Reika.

He then walked toward his girlfriend. "Convince her to put the suit on. The mission comes first for now. We'll solve this problem after it's done." Reika nodded in agreement while he gave her all the materials. He could not see Ayaka from his position but he could hear her heavy breathing from the hallway.

He then left her for the moment. He needed to confirm some things he had theorized first. N0 could take care of the others.

He searched in the room, trying to open every window or door he came across. It was finally one door in the far corner near the sphere that proved to be the one he was looking for. Opening the entrance, he silently walked inside the new room.

Dozens of G-swords were spread randomly on the ground of the room, shrouded in darkness. There was also one massive vehicle, some sort of monowheel with a seat and numerous pieces of equipment.

"Whoa... this is the first time I've come into this place," Kurono commented behind the shinobi.

"The door of the room is probably unlocked when the sphere opens," Kato commented while picking one of the sword laying there. "The sword was coming from this place then".

Naruto nodded and collected a couple of the blade-type weapons to seal them away. He then went to inspect the bike, the two students also approaching to do the same. "You managed to find out what's wrong with the girl ? I noticed how she reacted when she saw the new guys," Kato inquired in a serious tone. The three of them were the only ones inside the secret room, so they felt comfortable talking about things here.

Naruto hesitated a few seconds before complying. "... The five guys who arrived, they know each other, they died together. They all had messy clothes and were smelling strongly of bodily fluids. Aftersex fluids to be specific," he indicated with an even tone of voice. "The girl arrived naked and lost. She panicked when she saw my clone and nearly went desperate when the new guys appeared". He marked a pause, the tense atmosphere weighing heavily inside the dark place. "My guess... she was being gang raped by those guys just before the whole group died".

He sighed tiredly, taking in the expressions of the two high school students behind him.

"... I see," Kato commented with a hard tone of voice. "So... what do we do ?"

"We complete the mission first. We'll talk about it with the others after that. For now, we proceed exactly as planned. We'll need to ask the girl about it as well. It's nothing but theory at present".

They agreed, knowing that they needed to keep their brains focused on the imminent mission. It was then that Naruto's head started to slowly disappear. The blond quickly took notice of it and walked back into the main room. He noticed that N0 was also disappearing at exactly the same rate as he was. Good, it meant that his clones were considered extension of himself. He had already been pretty confident on the matter, considering the fact that, during the last mission, he had gained the points for his clones kills.

He made a single wave of the hand to the rest of the group. He was apparently the first one to go. It was probably for the best right now. "See you on the other side."

**** XoX ****

The first thing that Naruto's eyes landed on was the outline of one massive blade coming straight at him. His eyes widened in alarm.

The shinobi immediately bounced into action, his muscles contracting and his stance shifting dangerously. He jumped to avoid the blow and extended his sword vertically, cutting into two distinct parts his assailant. Behind him, N0 immediately came for support and sliced horizontally with his sword, slashing violently at the two halves of the monster still in suspension. The end result was four massive pieces of flesh, blood and bones impacting violently against the ground, destroying at the same time a large part of the cobblestones road and a bus-shelter.

"Oye, what the hell?" Naruto complained hotly and, from N0's viewpoint, quite childishly. He was now more than glad that he had been the first one to be sent. But a little warning first would have been appreciated.

The shinobi breathed out and finally took the time to look at the monster he had already dealt with. Its head now in two different places matched up with the picture presented by Gantz. The Ring Alien resembled some titan rider, a warrior in dark bronze armor, mounted on an oversize black horse.

The Uzumaki glanced slowly around the area. Roppongi, huh? The large streets along with the mega-complex including office spaces, shops and apartments were for the most part plunged in the dark. Thankfully, the mission was apparently not taking place in the neighborhood of restaurants and night clubs. He could spot a few people running away but that was it.

He took out his controller. There were other monsters in the surroundings area but apparently not a lot of them. And they were all gathered in one single place a couple of miles away.

Kaze was the next one to appear. He glanced at the rider laying dead on the ground and Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He could still picture himself saying he would wait for the rest of them.

"So... have you already finished the mission, master?" the martial artist asked with a raised eyebrow. Naruto could not tell if he was serious or mocking him. He chose not to ponder too much on the matter.

"No, there are other ones apparently".

The both of them waited for the others while N0 started inspecting the corpse of the dead alien. They appeared one after the other, each giving him a disbelieving stare when noticing the already dead Ring Alien. When Reika materialized and approached him, Ayaka, who had appeared earlier, shyly joined her side, trying to hide as far into the ground as possible. She was at least no longer naked with the G-suit covering her body.

Two minutes later, they were finally all gathered. "Time to see how much the training is paying off," the blond commented matter-of-factly. And then, they were off toward their targets.

**** XoX ****

It was an utter massacre. The seven remaining Ring aliens stood absolutely no chance. The first salvo came under the form of several shots to the legs that all came at once. In an instant, five of the riders were pulled to the ground by a consecutive long-range shot courtesy of Reika. Taking advantage of the surprise, the others moved in. Sakurai and Sakata mindedly restrained the beasts while Naruto, N0, Kurono and Kato came up close to deal fatal damage, cutting heads and torso with surgical, swift motions of their swords.

In the meantime, the two other beast tried to approach but their runs were put to a quick stop by the covering fire of Suzuki and Inaba. Kaze, who had remained hidden during the ambush, came down from the top of a building and brought one of the Riders to the ground. Reika managed to cripple the other, halting the beast in its advance while Naruto came close and dealt easily with the last standing one.

It was... easy.

They were now all breathing seriously, eying at their surroundings in wariness. A wave of confidence and comfort passed upon them. They never imagined that dealing with the aliens would have been so easily done. They had not even needed more than five minutes.

"Stay on your guards until you're brought back to the room," Naruto instructed. He noted that his words were not even needed. They already understood that while on a mission, they could not relax until all was over. They formed a perimeter, checking all around. The newcomers had been blown away by what happened and were left mouth agape in the center of their formation. Ayaka still standing next to Reika was not faring any better.

Naruto checked his controller. The mission was completed.

On one side, N0 frowned before gesturing for Kurono a few meters to his left. "Kurono-san?" he called in a whisper, gaining the student's attention, and pointed at the end of the street the fight had taken place. "Isn't that...?"

Kurono turned around. Two hundred meters away from him, near the body of one of the decaying monster, stood a girl he was very familiar with. His mouth hung open. "T-Tae-chan?" he uttered. "What is she doing here?"

The girl Naruto had seen a week earlier in his candy shop was eying their way, not seeing the monsters and warriors but still aware of the damages the hunters had caused in the street. N0 noted the camera in her hands, the large coat on her shoulders, the curiosity written all over her features and the hesitant steps in their direction. It was a strange coincidence, but not unbelievable.

Kurono approached her, body shaking all over. Before he could even touch her though, the top of his head started disintegrating.

Others followed soon after.

When Naruto and N0 finally went, the original gave a wave at Kaze and Suzuki, the last ones still remaining. "Be careful," he whispered aloud before fading away.

**** XoX ****

They were once again all gathered back in the room. The tension in the air had completely disappeared from the group which was easily understandable.

"Did you see that?" Sakurai voiced out in wonder and amazement. "Those aliens were more than fifty meters big. But we dealt with all of them in minutes".

"Yeah, they were all bark and no bite," Inaba stated cockily.

"No," Suzuki disagreed. "They were strong. I checked the controller and they were worth ten points each, as much as the T-Rex from last time".

"Huh?" Inaba questioned in surprise. "You're sure? They didn't seem like much".

"We were prepared this time," Sakata commented matter-of-factly. "It changed everything".

Naruto moved across the room, going to the door where he had found the swords earlier, but found it closed once again. All eyes followed him. He remained silent for a moment before turning around and smiling warmly at each one of them. "We did good," he informed simply. "You did good".

The aura of confidence grew. Everyone's face gained a satisfied expression. They had to take pride in what they managed to do, Naruto decided. It was important for so many things, that they understood that they won. They succeeded. Courage was not about having no fears but conquering them. A small step in that direction had been accomplished today. He was glad he had chosen to remain after the first mission.

There was still the matter of what to do with the five newcomers though. And unfortunately for the guys, he had already started planning for just that.

However, before anything could be done, a strange recording sound emanating from the black sphere broke up the comfortable silence that had settled.

 _And now..._

 _Time for the points._

 _00:00:00_

The lines vanished after a few seconds, quickly replaced by new ones.

 _For completing the mission in less than ten minutes after the clock_

 _Points are doubled_

"Points are... doubled ?" Kurono blinked in surprise. "It never told us that!"

"We never completed a mission in less than ten minutes," Kato pointed out. Kurono frowned in thought but then finally nodded. It was true.

 _Stupid noob_

 _0 points_

 _Total: 12 points_

 _Get 88 more and you're done_

Sakata frowned. Naruto next to him imitated him. "It does not acknowledge your role in the mission... only the final hit is counted, huh? Seems that we'll have to adjust to that in our next strategy. Sorry about that, man".

"No problem," the psychic stated, shrugging his shoulders. "As long as we're all alive..."

 _Hunter's lover_

 _20 points_

 _Total: 20 points_

 _Love is a strange thing, right? Right? Right?_

Reika sighed tiredly. "I wish sometimes I could shoot this stupid thing down".

Naruto and a few others chuckled. The blond encircled her in his arms which she greatly appreciated.

 _Countryside General_

 _20 points_

 _Total: 26 points_

 _Get 74 more and you're done_

Kaze barely acknowledged the line.

 _Cherry_

 _0 points_

 _Total: 8 points_

 _Get 92 more and you're done_

"No surprise here," Sakurai muttered.

 _Bald Dude_

 _0 points_

 _Total: 6 points_

 _Get 94 more and you're done_

Suzuki frowned at the surname but his content expression did not waver.

 _Inaba_

 _0 points_

 _Total: 0 points_

 _Seriously dude, what're you doing?_

"Next time, we'll leave some alive for the others to finish," Naruto stated. "It shouldn't be too difficult".

They all nodded in agreement.

 _Kurono_

 _40 points_

 _Total: 72 points_

 _Get 28 more and you're done_

"Each alien was worth 10 points... given the fact that the points are doubled and I finished two of them. Sounds about right," Kurono reasoned aloud.

 _Kato-cha_

 _20 points_

 _Total: 20 points_

 _Back in the track, loyal Kato-ch_ a

"And I ended one," Kato declared.

 _Hunter_

 _60 points_

 _Total: 107 points_

 _Please, choose from the 100 points menu_

"... I feel a strange sense of déjà-vu," Inaba commented mockingly.

"Will it turn into a habit?" Sakata added.

"This is somewhat comforting," Kato smiled thinly, clearly impressed.

Naruto gently crouched down. It was somewhat embarrassing, which he found quite inappropriate considering the situation. It was however important to loosen up after surviving a life-threatening situation. Before he could even chose anything or even access to the 100 points menu however, a strange melody started playing.

Everyone suddenly tensed. The screen displaying Naruto's profile disappeared.

 _Because you screwed up during the mission_

 _Priority target_

"It's not over," Kurono whispered in shock. "We... screwed up?"

"Is it another mission?" Kato questioned worryingly.

"Right now? We finished the last one just ten minutes ago," Inaba complained.

The screen transformed, displaying a picture of their target and its characteristics. And the face of the girl of the picture was very familiar to two of them. Kurono's face twisted in horror. Naruto's eyes widened drastically, both in surprise and concern.

 _You guys are now going to go finish off this person:_

 _Tae Kojima_

 _Characteristics: small, weak_

 _Likes: draw manga_

 _Favorite phrase: Kei-chan_

"... It's a human?" Sakurai examined with a surprise tone.

"It's perhaps wearing a disguise," Kato suggested unsure. "We can't be sure." But he was more trying to comfort himself than stating an actual fact.

Kurono turned around to face all of them. He reached for his X-Gun and sword, baffling the whole lot of them except Naruto. His pistol-like-weapon started releasing an ominous tone, ready to be discharge.

"Stay calm, Kurono-san! Put your weapons down!" Naruto requested. There was no alarm in his tone, only wariness. Every person in the vicinity turned quiet.

But the teen barely heard him. He was thinking. More precisely, he was thinking how effective the group was in completing a mission, and how efficient Naruto was in dealing with a target.

Shaking like a leaf and with despair written in the deep of his eyes, Kurono cried aloud. "Gantz! Please, sent me first!" Not losing eye contact with the others, he crouched down next to the open black sphere and stuck his finger into the ear of the man inside. "You hear me Gantz? I want to be the first!"

But saying that, his attention was diverted for just a second. It was all the time Naruto needed to act. The next instant, the ninja was pressing the teen face down face against the ground, had dispatched both of his weapons and completely immobilized him. Kurono discovered that he could not even find leverage with his arms or legs to just begin pushing against the blond. He panicked.

"Calm yourself, Kurono-san!" Naruto instructed. "We will think, and talk, before anything. We are not wild beasts. We don't betray our teammates. We stick together. I promise. You hear me, Kurono-san? Calm down!"

The words managed to reach the teen, Naruto could tell. It would turn out okay. But then, Kurono's head started vanishing, and Naruto could do nothing but let him go. And to his growing distress, he did not even disappear with him despite the contact.

Was it not working that way? Could they only travel _back_ in the room when in contact? It was not the time to dwell on that thought however. Kurono was gone, and he could lead to the death of the whole group if he acted inconsiderately.

Naruto stood up. The others were facing him, completely lost on what just happened. He sighed. "Okay, we have little time to discuss for now. I'll give you the short version." He paused and was glad that every one of them were focusing their full attention. "This Tae Kojima is Kurono's girlfriend". He ignored the hiccups of stupor and carried on. "So for now, we do not kill. We track and try to intercept only. We have to talk, but first we need to find Tae Kojima and Kurono. You understand ?" Sakurai started vanishing. "You understand ? Do not kill!" he ordered strongly. The young psychic nodded just before completely disappearing.

Naruto cursed silently. There were too many questions and not enough time. Why was Kojima the target? How to proceed regarding Kurono? Would the group still follow him his command? He doubted that Kato or Suzuki would be willing to achieve the mission's objective this time. Even the others would be reluctant. Hell, he was reluctant. However, considering what he had learnt about failed assignment...

"Will we kill the girl?" Sakata asked uncomfortably.

"It doesn't seem... right," Suzuki tentatively said.

"I saw Tae at Roppongi," N0 provided the information. "She had a camera with her. Perhaps she took an incriminating picture".

Naruto's eyes shot open. Could it be it? Gantz made the ones who shared his secret explode, so it was not impossible that Tae would be targeted for this reason. The others agreed as well.

"So, we go there and blast the picture and the camera with it?" Reika pondered.

"It could work..." Kato supplied.

Naruto made no comment but acknowledged the words. Three of the newcomers had disappeared while they were conversing but he could not bother with them right now.

The odds were, Gantz would not allow them to walk out of this situation just by breaking a camera. But perhaps... The blond turned around and knelt down next to the black sphere. He touched the bald head of the naked man inside. "Is Tae Kojima registered in the memory?" He asked.

There was no sound at all except Kaze's disappearing. The Uzumaki repeated the question with more pressure on the sleeping man's head.

The black screen flickered, displaying two lines of images. The first line showed pictures of every hunter participating in the mission under the moniker of _Gantz's Members_. The second line included a single image of Tae Kojima under the moniker of _Targets_.

**** XoX ****

There was no obstacle in their way. No monsters, aliens or bizarre creatures. No red points displayed on the controller's screen but one. The group was running toward this single location. They evolved rapidly across the streets. Naruto had discreetly dispatched a dozen of clones to survey the area just in case, but there had been no problem until now.

The atmosphere was severe and silent.

They finally arrived in front of a two-storey house with a plain facade in front. The sky was cloudless hence the glow from the moon added to the artificial lighting served to lighten the place. The temperatures had fallen greatly since nightfall.

Kurono just exited the portal when they came upon him and was caught like a deer in headlights. He was dragging Tae Kojima by the arm, the girl still in her pajamas and looking thoroughly disoriented. He was holding the X-shotgun with his free hand.

The blond shinobi did not allow him the time to even raise his weapon before bouncing on him. He urgently dispatched the pistol. This time though, Kurono surprised him. The teen let go of the grip he had over his weapon, knowing he had little chance against the ninja on an even front. Instead, he simply punched him with his left arm. The blow was heavy and painful even for the former jinchuriki. It was perhaps as strong as one of Lee's strike. Naruto was sent back from a few meters. But before Kurono could take advantage of the distraction and grabbed back his weapon, N0 came in.

The clone had been as shocked as the original. He had not expected the teen to willingly let go of the X-shotgun. It had been clever, really taking advantage of that to land a hit on the Uzumaki. However, Kurono's success was short-lived. With the full power of the suit backing his already impressive strength and chakra-enhanced muscles, N0 efficiently batted both of Kurono's arms aside, swept his legs from under him and came from upon to accompany his fall. Before hitting the ground, the clone grabbed one arm and used his legs to trap the dark-haired boy into a death grip.

They then hit the floor, N0 never letting go. Kurono's air was forced out, his head being trapped between the clone's legs and his arm twisted in a way he could not even defend against. The high-school student winced in pain, feeling his bent arm nearly at its breaking point. The last centimeters it would need to crack the trapped limb never came though.

The whole action had not lasted more than five seconds.

The real Naruto coughed and stood up. Damn, the teen could seriously pack a punch. It was far from being Tsunade or even Sakura's level of strength, but it still hurt. Those suits were unfairly overpowered.

"Let me go!" Kurono ordered, struggling helplessly against the clone. But N0's grip was unbreakable.

"Wh-what is happening? Naruto-san?" Tae asked weakly, intimidated and quite frankly more than frightened.

But before any words could escape the blond's mouth, a duo of pistol was raised from two of the newbies. The three others were standing just behind them, eying nervously at their surroundings. The group of five was standing apart from the others.

"So this is the girl? I don't understand, what's all this fuss is about," one of the two who was pointed his X-gun at Tae's head commented.

"She's the target this time, right? We just need to blow her head off then," the other one with sunglasses and long hair supported.

The atmosphere turned glacial. Naruto was keenly aware that the clones he had created earlier were ready to pounce at the first chance. He just hoped that no one would try anything at the moment. Thankfully, it seemed that they understood. "Don't shoot!" Naruto directed.

They flinched at the cold tone, but still did not lower their weapons. "The goal of this Gantz's thing is to eliminate the target. The target is this girl. It's what you said earlier. Am I wrong?" one of the guys asked, this one bald and wearing a beret.

The three who had not been pistol-ready earlier raised two X-guns and one X-shotgun, one directed at Naruto and the others pointing threateningly at the other group. In response, Kato, Sakata, Sakurai, Kaze, Inaba and Suzuki also raised their X-guns. Ayaka remained still at the back of the group, at the verge of tears.

"You better not move an inch," one with glasses commented. "We just need to kill the girl after all, there's no need for another death."

Silence consequently prevailed. It was broken when one of the newcomers turned to direct his pistol at the target. Before he could pull the trigger though, Naruto's voice stopped him. "Just one thing before you decide to fire... you were with this girl before dying, right?" he asked, pointing at the terrified form of Ayaka.

Two of them grinned, one sneered, one other tightened his grip over his weapon and the last one displayed a worried look crossing his eyes.

The one with the long hair and sunglasses who was smiling coughed. "We shared sweet, sweet time together. But then, she made our car crash and-"

He did not end his sentence. Five regular clones of Naruto burst out from the ground. Like one single man, they diverted the weapons in the hand of the men before launching a kunai coated with wind chakra. Five piercing sounds echoed, followed by a few splashes. The men dropped to the ground like puppets without their strings.

Another short pause. Then, some gasps and even a few sighs of relief from the other hunters or Tae. Naruto carefully went to collect the various kunais, shrugging his shoulders. "Morons," he whispered.

Kaze approached him, giving him back one of his discarded razor sharp blade. Sakata and Sakurai then used their psychic power to gather the rest of the kunais. Naruto put them back into his pouch and sent them a grateful nod. "Thanks."

"No worry here," Sakata blankly stated. "I doubt those idiots will be missed."

"Good riddance," Inaba commented, looking between the corpses and Ayaka.

Kato and Reika remained silent, still unsettled by the scene. Naruto hoped that it would not complicate his relationship with the former idol.

**** XoX ****

For the first time since he met him, Kurono felt fear crawling up his spine at the sight of Naruto casually discarding the five men. He knew that the blond was far from your average person, be it in body or mind. He had been wary of him, but never feared him, as they worked towards the same goal. However, this time, the shinobi could very well take away his dearest person. And it hurt, knowing that he could do nothing to prevent it. N0 had not one second loosened his grip on him despite what just happened.

Uzumaki was cool, efficient and calculative, more so during the missions and, he admitted, for good reasons. He was nonetheless not irrational, and there laid Kurono's only chance to save Tae. So, when Naruto turned back to face him, he was ready to state his case, all in order to defend his girlfriend. The words were however taken out of his mouth.

"You teenagers... so eager to react," the blond complained, the former jinchuriki trying to ignore the irony of the statement. He turned his ocean blue eyes. "Kojima-san?" He called softly. The girl flinched under his gaze but still gave him her attention. "Could you please bring us your camera?"

She blinked at the strange question. "The one you had with you at Roppongi. Please," Reika specified. Perhaps it was the feminine touch, but Tae quickly nodded at the former idol and disappeared into her house.

"Wh-what is it? Why do you need Tae-chan's camera?" Kurono asked, still immobilized.

"A hunch," N0 answered. "Kojima-san might have taken a picture of one of us, or of one of the monsters. Perhaps it's the reason why Gantz designed her as the target."

Silence. Kurono blinked, leaving his mouth agape before closing it. His eyes darted toward the house, then to Naruto. "You... you think that if we delete the picture, Gantz will stop the mission?"

The original shrugged his shoulders with slight discomfort. Tae came back with the camera in hands, her eyes travelling between him and N0, probably thinking something along the lines of the both of them being twins. "...We hope so," he simply responded.

He spoke no more words on the matter. Reika approached Tae, who gave her the camera. The two women took a rapid look at the pictures inside. They were in no hurry, the clock still displaying more than forty minutes left to accomplish the mission.

Reika's eyes widened slightly. "It's... there are two low-quality pictures with the Ring Aliens. It's mostly flesh and blood in the background, but it's probably the reason why she is our target."

Naruto nodded. "Delete the picture, then destroy the camera."

His girlfriend nodded. She pressed a few buttons before tightening her grip over the device. The strength provided by the G-suit was more than enough to completely crush it until all that was left were scraps of metal and electronics. She threw what remained away and, for additional precaution, blasted it with a shot of her X-gun.

"That was... radical," Sakurai whispered. Sakata and Suzuki wholeheartedly agreed.

Naruto held back a discreet grin of amusement and kept his eyes focused on the controller in his hands. Sakata, Inaba, Suzuki, Kaze, Ayaka and Sakurai went to sit down in front of the portal. Kato approached Kurono but did not sit down next to him, the same with Reika, who came to Naruto's side, both remaining standing. N0 released some of the pressure on Kurono and allowed him to sit properly, though he kept his grip over the boy's shoulder. Tae, in response, sat down in front of her boyfriend, the pair speaking quietly about what exactly was going on. The tension was permeating the air.

The blond shinobi waited five minutes, carefully eying every minute and second on the running timer. Regrettably, the numbers did not stop and no message appeared on the screen.

"It didn't work?" Reika finally asked, bitterly.

"Doesn't seem so," Sakata answered, eying at his own controller. Next to him, Sakurai clenched his hands.

Naruto sent an imperceptible nod of the head. N0 betrayed no emotion and stood up, releasing his grip over Kurono's shoulder and gently shoving aside Tae on his way.

The petite woman let out a muted gasp. It was enough to attract all the attention on her. She moved her hand to her delicate neck. Her pale fingers found a tiny cut there and came out with just a minuscule stain of red. Blood.

"Wh-" she muttered.

"Moonflower neurotoxin," N0 informed matter-of-factly. Kurono jerked awake at the words but the clone ignored him. He had taken advantage of the teen's lack of attention to seal away his X-shotgun, and he knew for a fact that his sword, Y-gun and X-gun had been left back at the room. He had little to expect from the boy in term of attack except for his bare hands. The clone's sky blue eyes pierced Tae's own. "You'll fall asleep in less than two minutes. All your muscles will relax and gradually shut down. Your heart will stop pulsing blood in three minutes and you'll die painlessly. My people used to call it the _Gentle Death_. For all I know, there exist no medicine in this world to counter it."

A ninja could easily burn the poison with his own chakra, coming out only with a standard burn and groggy muscles. However, any civilian stood no chance without treatment.

He'd been used to keeping some around during his time with Jiraiya, mainly using it for hunting in the wilderness. Of course, he also kept the antidote to neutralize it, though it would do no good to admit at the moment. He did not want to have to fight Kurono on it.

Tae blinked in confusion for a dozen of seconds before she collapsed. Kurono, who had been on the ready to charge at Naruto, completely stopped his advance to catch her. Tears of disbelief and misery started rolling over his cheeks.

"Tae-chan!" he cried. He collected her head in his hands and kept repeating her name. "Tae-chan! Please!" The girl barely acknowledged his words, already half-comatose. Kurono brutally turned his head around to face Naruto, ignoring N0 who had just moved to his creator's side. "Why did you do that? We didn't have to kill her!" Dark fury and untamed rage were distorting his face.

"... There was no other way. I'm sorry, Kurono-san," Naruto stated regretfully, holding the boy's murky gaze without flinching.

The teen was quivering with sobs. "You didn't have to do it! We could have waited until the end of the clock!"

"We would have died then," Naruto informed with a shard of ice in the voice.

"No!" Kurono shouted. "I told you already. We would just have-"

"Lost our points?" Naruto ended the sentence. There was a cold finality now in his tone that made everyone around flinch. "Then, each one of us would have needed to score at least 15 points in the next mission, and that's only if we admit that the rules are the same that they were for you." He paused and could notice the shock spreading on Kurono's face. "What would have happened then? During last mission, we only encountered eight monsters. We are currently eleven people. Imagine what would happen during next mission if we decided to fail this one. At best, three of us would have died! Probably more!" Another pause. He could see the anger fade away on the teen's face, leaving only hopelessness and grief. "I tried it already, doing everything I could to save one friend no matter the odds. It ended with me losing all the ones I cared about and even losing my entire world. I won't let it happen a second time. I'm sorry, Kurono-san, I truly am, but I won't endanger the lives of the others in our group if I can prevent it."

Kurono could not respond back, his face a mask of bitterness and despair. His grip over Tae tightened. "Kei-chan," the girl whispered softly, lovingly. Dazedly.

Kurono grabbed her hand. "I'm here, Tae-chan. I won't leave you. I promise."

Naruto moved a few steps away, stopping in front of the others in the group. Despite the logic backing his words and reasoning, he felt ashamed and sour about what he just did. Reika came from behind to capture him inside her arms. He sent her way a bitter smile that she returned with no trouble.

"You are not at fault here, Naruto-san," Suzuki informed kindly. "It's... all this. The mission, the weapons, the monsters, the black sphere... they are all at fault. Not you."

The Uzumaki nodded imperceptibly. It did not make the guilt go away.

**** XoX ****

Tae died in Kurono's arms. She had been sleeping before her breath eventually stopped. Then, they started the transportation back to the room in complete silence. Kurono kept her in his arms until he left.

Naruto was looking ahead, a few of the other gazing at his back while Kurono did not move at all from the crouching position he had been in. The black sphere was oozing a ominous tremor in the room and a text was already displayed on the screen.

 _Hunter_

 _0 points_

 _Total: 107 points_

 _Please, choose from the 100 points menu_

The text was almost the same as when they left, the only difference resting in the score from the mission. Naruto frowned. "Show me the memory," he demanded. The screen changed and displayed hundreds of pictures. The very last of them served to ease the blond's mind.

"It's..." Kurono gaped.

"Tae Kojima," the shinobi stated. "I wasn't a hundred percent sure she would appear. I asked Gantz before the mission if she would be stored in the memory if she were to die. The sphere showed me a picture of her then." Naruto turned back toward the screen. "Access to the 100 points menu. Option 3, revive Tae Kojima."

Kurono's head might have snapped if it had moved just a bit quicker. "What?"

The blond shinobi sighed tiredly. "Gantz was not after the camera. Our target wasn't even your girlfriend, but her memory. When someone is resurrected outside of the sphere's influence, it's likely that he or she loses all recollections related to it. Option 1, _'You will be freed along with your memory erased',_ indicates that Gantz is able to rewrite memory. So, instead of failing the mission by letting Kojima-san live, it's easier to kill her then bring her back with the knowledge of what happened wiped out of her mind. Gantz gets no reason to target her as long as she ignores everything about it."

It had been the simplest solution to their problem, at least the one he had thought about. Perhaps they could have let her live, and perhaps they could have managed after that. After all, Gantz could have adapted the rules accordingly. But it was way less risky with this way of solving things.

A ray of white light emerged from the sphere, passing through the window to disappear into the night sky. It stopped five seconds later. 107 points turned into 7 on Naruto's profile. The blond blinked in wonder.

"Is that it?" Reika asked.

"Where is Tae-chan?" Kurono asked standing up and directing the question at no one in particular.

"She's probably at the spot where she died. She's not a part of Gantz, so she wasn't resurrected here," Sakata theorized. The psychic's analysis was logical considering the fact that Gantz did not want Tae Kojima to know about it.

The writing changed on the sphere and white new lines appeared.

 _Kurono_

 _30 points_

 _Total: 102 points_

 _Please, choose from the 100 points menu_

Kurono was momentarily taken aback by what it was about. He had gained 30 points... did it imply that the sphere considered the fact that Tae died was his fault? He killed her?

It was... possible, Naruto pondered, having reached the same conclusions. The moonflower neurotoxin would have stopped Kojima's heart, but it could very well have been Kurono's embrace that suffocated her seconds before her eventual death. In such a state of fragility, even the smallest of constriction could have been fatal.

 _100 points menu_

 _Please choose between the following options :_

 _1\. You will be freed along with your memories erased_

 _2\. You will be given an extremely powerful weapon_

 _3\. You will be able to revive an human being from the memory_

"I..." Kurono tripped on his words. He breathed in and out, calming his tumultuous brain. Perhaps it was a lot to take in.

Naruto moved to the wall, closing his arms and eyes while resting his back against the surface. The dark-haired Gantz' veteran hesitated. His gaze travelled back between the blond shinobi and the sphere. However, ultimately, there was only one possible choice.

"I... can't go on," he admitted in the perfect silence. "What you did back there, Naruto-san... I couldn't have done it. Couldn't think properly." He stumbled upon his words. Naruto opened his sky blue eyes, silent but still giving him his entire attention. "What you did... I understand the reason why, but it doesn't make it right."

"... It does not," the Uzumaki easily admitted.

Kurono paused a few seconds, but then displayed a mixed of a smile and a frown. "I would have sacrificed this whole team, or even myself to save Tae-chan," he confessed. "I can't be a part of this team anymore. I'm sorry."

Profound silence settled in the room. It lasted a minute, no one talking but only conversing with their eyes. Kurono was right. He had the opportunity to move on. He held no compulsion to stay in a group that basically approved of his girlfriend execution. Still, he knew that they were not to blame.

"Live your life, Kurono-san," Suzuki smiled appreciatively at the teen. "You have a wonderful girlfriend waiting for you. There exists no reason for you to reject this chance. You've fought long enough."

The two psychics smiled at each other. "Suzuki-san is right," Sakurai spoke for the two of them. "You already helped us immensely. We are all grateful for your guidance. You don't need to stay any longer."

Others gave their own comments. Reika gave him a thanks along with a soft smile, Kaze just a nod of the head. Kato thanked the teen profusely, not only for being his friend, but also for helping in bringing him back. Naruto leaned against the wall without uttering a single word. He felt uncomfortable, not in the position to say anything, really. What could you say to the guy whose girlfriend you murdered? Not much. Any words, advices, apologies or thank you he could offer would feel hollow and wholly inappropriate.

Finally, when everyone was done, Kurono spoke aloud to the black sphere. "I choose option 1."

In the next instant, his feet started disappearing. Then his knees, torso, arms and lastly, his head. Before he entirely vanished though, he spoke few last parting words. "Good luck to you all."

And then, he was gone from the room, and the team. Gantz blacked out and the doors and windows unlocked.

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****

And... cut. The double-mission is over and Kurono left the group. We will only see him in a few future scenes, but he won't join back the team in this story.

The 'bonus points' idea was pretty convenient here, hope you were okay with it. It does not seem impossible, it's even something that could have been done in the original Gantz manga.

I think I planned this chapter pretty well, the angst was not easy to handle but I believe I still managed. There were a lot of details that kept my attention in this chapter, but we're finally coming to the big and serious missions. Next chapter is only a break one but after that, the big monsters will finally start appearing.

Reviews?


	7. Happy Days

Hello readers !

Well, it has been some time. Sorry about that. Before we begin, here are some responses to my reviewers :

Generally, I got very positive feedback from the previous chapter. I'm really glad you enjoyed it, I had put a lot of thoughts into it.

We'll see a bit of Kurono again in the future but he will never come back to being a member of the black team. It would have been tricky to deal with him with Naruto around. The other members are not such a problem.

For the fans of NarutoXReika, this chapter should please you greatly.

Without further ado, I'll let you read this chapter. Enjoy !

**** XoX ****

Shinobi in the World of the Black Sphere

Chapter 7: Happy Days

**** XoX ****

Naruto and Reika left everyone after numerous goodbyes and a promise to meet the coming Friday. Ayaka Uranaka, the frightened girl who had appeared during the mission after being raped and killed, had left on her own. Reika had talked a lot with her, advising the girl to rejoin her family, talk with them while avoiding the topic of Gantz. She had agreed to reach for her older sister and Inaba had accompanied her on her way to the metro station. There was little more they could do for the abused girl but they would see each other the following Friday to make sure she was okay. Only time could perhaps help to heal her mental trauma.

The couple entered the 'Gama Candy' store, tired from the long night. Once the door was closed and the blinds downed, they made their way upstairs. Reika did not wait long before grabbing Naruto's arm and spinning the blond shinobi around. In one swift motion, she planted her lips on his own.

Naruto's mind shut down for a second before his instinct got the better of him. He responded to the fierce embrace by trapping his girl inside his arms. His lips parted open, welcoming his girlfriend's tongue who pushed her body even closer. Her curves appeared even more prominent in his hormone's clouded mind.

Reika was fierce and wild in her embrace. The make-out session lasted a good five minutes, pausing only by intervals of a few seconds for each of them to take a breath. Then, Reika's hands started to explore further, taking the jacket out of the blond's back and passing her hands on his pecks and abs. The touch made Naruto shiver, the soft and cold fingers teasing and leaving him self-conscious.

"Reika…" he whispered softly, almost out of breath. "What are you-"

The former idol backed down a little, her stormy dark eyes piercing into his aquamarine's ones. "I want you." She assessed the emotion she could see spreading over her boyfriend's face. "Don't you want me as well?" Her voice became only whispers at that point. "To touch me. To… make love to me?"

The Uzumaki blushed, his hands never leaving her. Of course, he had been aware of what a romantic relationship involved on the physical's end. However, there was a world between having heard about something and experiencing it firsthand. "I-I don't know how. I never… did it," he muttered with embarrassment.

A small smile bloomed on her lips. "Well… I never did it as well, so we're even here. But I can still tell that I want you really bad right now." She kissed him gently this time, conveying all of her love and affection in this small gesture.

"O-Oh." He pondered on that thought a couple of seconds. In the end, he only managed to send her a somewhat awkward smile. She giggled amusedly, and he wondered how she could appear so comfortable and confident with the situation. It had to be a girl's thing, because he could barely process a thought on what exactly was happening.

Reika did not wait for her boyfriend's response before resuming the exploration of his body. Her hands passed all over his torso, upper arms and abs, marveling at how fit and warm he was. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, and the six-pack abs did feel very appealing. Her arousal was growing by the second, eager to taste what her fingers were telling her.

Naruto finally responded to her misdirection, going to her neck and ears. He planted kiss after kiss on her white porcelain skin, making his way down to her collarbone with each peck. In the meantime, his callous and large hands started roaming over her womb, going under her top to caress the bare skin of her stomach, even stopping a moment to tease her bellybutton. Really, he was working magic on her mind and body, and it was everything and more that she had dreamt about. He was soft yet firm just the right amount. She still yearned for more though.

She helped him taking off her jacket, undoing buttons of her top at the same time and allowing him a deep view over her cleavage. She was not bare top yet, but she was coming close.

She smiled and kissed him deeply when she caught him peeking at her breasts, blushing before diverting his eyes as if he had done some unpardonable deed. "They are all yours, you know," she informed him. "You can do with them-" and here her tone adopted a lecherous edge "-whatever you want".

She had known for long that her breasts had always been one of her main asset as an idol. She had little doubts that many had fantasized on them, and though she had been quite embarrassed for such a fact, here and now, when the ocean eyes bounced back onto the two mountains of flesh, she could not be prouder of her assets.

She could not have sound any more sexy, Naruto thought, and her words were more than enough to tickle his excitement. Delicately, he seized the orb of flesh on his right, keeping his left hand busy with caressing Reika's neck and collarbone. He gave it a gentle squeeze, marveling at the incredible marshmallow texture, his hand going down to lift the breast and pressing to investigate all of its peculiarities.

His actions seemed to be to his girlfriend's appraisal, because she let out a cute moan, moving her head to capture his lips once again. She also maneuvered her leg to have it just between his own, pressing it against his groin. She was driving him crazy.

Naruto barely felt an ounce of embarrassment at this point, only enjoying the movement up and down of his girlfriend's thighs against his private parts. His groan of pleasure lost itself in the battle of tongues they were having, and he chose to speed up the massage of her breasts with both hands this time, discarding her top entirely in the process.

"I don't think-" he began. Reika whined when he processed to gave her chest a firm squeeze "-I told you that already, but I clearly should have." They kissed, tongues intertwining fiercely, before separating for a brief moment. "But damn, you're so beautiful and -" he paused to enjoy the pleasure she was procuring him with her tight "-so damn sexy and hot."

They stood back for a second, eyes gazing into each other, panting. Naruto took the time to admire her figure, her perfect creamy white breasts the size of two big grapefruits. Her top was now completely bare and he marveled at the sight. Reika took on the gaze her man was giving her, licking her bottom lips in anticipation at the hunger she could detect in it. Her tight had stopped moving and was pressed against his groin, so she could easily feel the hard member hiding inside the blond's pants. She moved back just a little, both her hands going down to stroke the bulge. She got her face close to Naruto's own, never breaking the last centimeter separating his lips from hers, and took upon his expression while her hands carried on palpating his manhood. She took pride in herself when his breath quickened and his pupils dilated with pleasure. She could clearly feel the spot between her own legs getting wetter and wetter the more the time was passing on. His hands roaming over both of her breasts were only adding to her rising arousal.

She finally managed to unbutton his jeans and slide the clothe down, leaving Naruto only clad with his shirt and boxer. Her hand immediately went to their prize inside the cotton fabric, finally making direct contact with his manhood. She stroke it down gently, enjoying the warmth it was radiating.

Her eyes darted down, taking in the sight of the hard member emerging from Naruto's boxer inside her grasp. Perhaps she could experiment and familiarize herself a little bit with her boyfriend's anatomy. There were many things she wanted to experiment on the matter of sex after all, and this was the perfect opportunity to start. Her eyes went back up, plunging once again into the blue ones of Naruto. She kissed him fiercely. "I-I want to try something," she revealed, flustered. "Please, don't hesitate to tell me how it feels and what you want".

Naruto blinked but she did not allow him the time to ponder on her words more. They were still in the living room upstairs so she guided him to the couch, her hands never letting go. She pushed the blond down on the couch and went to her knees, immediately lamenting at the loss of his warm hands over her breasts. On a side part of her mind, she was grateful for the presence of the thick tan carpet in the living room for her knees.

Reika rubbed her boyfriend's appendage up and down, tracing with her now warm fingers the outline of the shaft. She peeled the foreskin covering the head and gave it a tentative lick of the tongue. The taste was salty and sour, a far cry from what she had dreamt of, but she supposed all of her fantasy could not come out true. At least, considering Naruto's repeated moans, she was doing something right here. As long as he was satisfied, she could pretty much put up with everything.

She raised her head up and was surprised to find his eyes full of desire locked with hers. She blushed softly and redirected her attention back on his manhood. It was strangely less embarrassing. She licked the cock up and down, passing her tongue over the veins and avoiding the short hair at the base. She would rather have him shaved it up in the future, she would need to ask him that at a later date. After a couple of minutes spent tasting every part of the appendage, she went to the head. She parted her lips and softly swallowed it, one hand going to the base and the other to the base for more excitation. She pushed her head down, feeling the blond's manhood passed over her lips, teeth and tongue until half of the staff was inside her mouth. She kept it here for a full minute, passing her tongue around, tentatively searching the most pleasurable spot while being guided by Naruto's groans of pleasure. His hands came to rest upon her head, massaging her skull and keeping her long hair out of the way. Her saliva was mixed with a liquid that she guessed was precum.

Finally, she retracted slowly, taking the staff out of her mouth. Her hands came up to stroke it while she raised her head to look upon her boyfriend. "A-Am I doing okay?" she asked, unsure of her technique as of yet. It was her first time after all, and it was for his entire pleasure. In the future when she would repeat the action, she would need to make sure that it was to his maximum satisfaction. "Y-yeah, that feels absolutely wonderful," Naruto answered somewhat disconcerted.

She sent his way a content smile. "O-Oh. I'm glad you like it." Her hands kept working delicately on the full length of his cock. "Don't hold back if you want to cum by the way, I don't mind. I intend to have more than one round with you tonight after all." Plus, tasting the blond's semen was one of the first thing on her to-do mental list.

"R-right."

That said, Reika went back to her previous occupation. Her hands slipped down, making the way free for her mouth to gobble the pink shaft. This time, she quickly went to half the length of it, then pushed further inward. She slowly conquered inches after inches, pushing her tongue aside and doing her best to hold back her gagging reflex. Her throat contracted repeatedly around the appendage made of flesh. She remained here a few seconds, taking in the feeling of having her mouth entirely full, before retracting back. Naruto's cock was pulsing and if what she had researched on the subject was accurate, it meant that he'd release his seed soon enough.

Her guess soon proved to be correct when she inserted the shaft a third time into her mouth. Naruto grunted and he tightened his grip on her head. The blond was overwhelmed by the pleasure the wetness and tightness of her mouth was procuring him. Her tongue twirling around him and the vacuum's effect resulting of her suction put the final nail in the coffin and he came the hardest he had ever come before. The pleasure was incommensurable, Reika muffled moans highlighting the feeling to a point he had no hope of withstanding the rush of adrenaline.

Reika was forced to move her head backward. She chocked on her breath, allowing several blobs of white liquid to escape from her mouth. Naruto immediately knelt down next to her, sliding his arms down her shoulder. His girlfriend was still processing with what was in her mouth when, under his watchful eyes, she gulped.

The action excited him in a way he had not known possible before. At this moment, in the subdued light of the room and with her top bare, Reika appeared to be the most beautiful girl his eyes have ever landed onto. She coughed a little, and it brought his mind back on earth.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and smiled softly, a few drop of sperm still sticking to her chin. "Yes, I'm good." She passed her hand over her cheeks and jaw, taking away the last drop on her skin. "I hope you liked it."

Naruto nodded strongly. "It was incredible." With a burst of energy, he kissed her deeply, pushing his tongue inside her mouth and ignoring the bitter new taste. She was surprised but responded quickly, allowing him to play with her tongue as he desired. The Uzumaki pulled back with a trail of saliva connecting their lips. His eyes roamed along each parcel of her body, making her feel completely bare."You know, you're really the most beautiful woman I ever met," he whispered.

She blushed a deep shade of red, more embarrassed with that simple sentence than with everything else that had just happened. Her smile was beautiful, truly a sight to marvel in the blond's opinion. He had no doubt that she must have inspired many minds as an idol.

Naruto kept kissing her, moving her body with his arms and gently lying her down on the couch. It was long and comfortable enough that they could use it like a single-person bed. He positioned himself above her, his hands caressing her breasts and stomach. She responded to his misdirection by encircling her arms around his shoulders and back, pressing herself against him. His staff was rock hard and she moved her tight to tease it continuously.

Naruto's hands travelled down, stroking the jean and undoing the buttons of the clothe. Reika helped him quickly and proceeded to take it away as fast as possible, her white panty leaving in the same go. The Uzumaki's fingers finally brushed against her most private area. She could barely wait anymore. She knew she was ready.

The blond played with the pink, perfectly shaved nether lips with one hand, the other still occupied by massaging her breasts and pinching her nipples. Reika moaned softly, enjoying the exploration with shut eyes as her clit kept on being touched. Naruto slid down, his other hand finally joining the other and his mouth stopping to bit and lick nipples and tits. One finger entered the wet cave, and he moved it up and down, before two additional fingers joined it inside.

The fingering was quite remarkable, each appendicle moving with grace and chirurgical precision. Ninja's hands had this advantage, and despite the blond not knowing what exactly he was doing right here, he supposed the repeated groans of Reika were good indications. His other hand never stopped playing with her clit, a part he had previously learnt concentrated lots of the nerves and pleasure points of the female body. "Ah-, Naruto, right here, yes amazing!"

She grabbed him by the shoulders and forces him to come back to her eye level. She kissed him furiously. "I need you. I'm ready, please, let's do it now." The former idol pleaded. The grip she had with her hand on his staff and the area she was leading it to left little doubt on what she was asking for.

"God Reika, you're so hot. You're driving me crazy, you know that?" he confessed, none of his previous embarrassment left in his voice anymore.

He grabbed his appendage with one hand while one of Reika's own led him to where he was supposed to go. He positioned himself at her entrance, his eyes always stuck on his girlfriend's face. What he saw there was only love, lust and anticipation. Without further ado, he started pushing in.

The walls of her nether lips were very tight but the mixture of their fluids acted as a natural lubricant to help the motion. They both groaned in pleasure, finally able to have what they had longed for. They were panting heavily. Naruto pushed a few inches, taking his time not to rush anything. Reika flinched, a small amount of pain registering in her brain, but it was easily ignored by the full satisfaction and pleasure of finally achieving it. She was having sex with the man she was in love with. She kissed him and he kissed her back, their tongue twirling around in each other mouth.

**** XoX ****

Naruto was woken up by the tender sensation of fingers crawling through his hair. His body was pressed against warm pillows, trapped in an embrace of soft... flesh ? He opened his eyes to find himself in the gentle grip of Reika who was currently keeping herself busy by stroking his hair and pressing her body against his chest. Her face was in the crook of his neck so he could not see her eyes but the methodical working of her hands was clue enough to indicate that she was awake.

He moved back just enough to reveal her face and capture her lips. They shared a deep kiss. The blond shinobi groaned with appreciation, conveying his thought of total relaxation.

"Hello Sunshine," Reika smiled at him.

His answer was a raised brow."Sunshine ?"

She shrugged helplessly, running her hands over his chest's muscles and stomach's. "It's been a month since we started dating. And after last night, I thought it was time for me to find you a suitable nickname. With the color of your hair and eyes, I thought it'd suit you well."

Naruto hummed absent-mindedly. "So, Sunshine, uh ? I like it". It was certainly better than the majority of nicknames that he had been labeled with in the past.

"... You want to go take a shower with me ?" Reika tentatively asked. She certainly wanted to explore this physical relationship. She felt Naruto tense under the soft touch of her hands.

"Are you sure ? I mean, my bathroom is not a very big one. Plus, you're..." the former jinchuriki trailed off, indicating her body with a vague wave of the hand, blushing and averting his eyes.

It took Reika a couple of seconds to realize that he was still hesitant in front of her naked body. It was very cute, but still utterly pointless here. She was committed and eager to please him and have him please her in return. So, she stepped back a little and directed her gaze right into his eyes.

"Alright… perhaps we should establish some ground rules on how to operate with our physical relationship," she started and did not wait for his response. "Rule number one. All of that-" she indicated with a motion of her hands, showing him her entire body, "-is yours whenever you want. Believe me, last night was greatly enjoyable for me, and I'm more than willing to start again". She smiled at his small blush. Really, the way he was silently displaying how uncomfortable he was with the whole thing could make her think that she was the older one in their relationship. She found it adorably cute. "Rule number two: this-" and here, she designated his entire nude body "-is mine. Is that agreeable with you?" He nodded with no small amount of uncertainty. "Good. Now, when I ask you to join me in the shower, I don't care how small your bathroom is. I want you to join me, make the water roll over our two bodies and enjoy another session of hot steamy sex together. I had many dreams about the two of us together and believe me when I say that I want to make those dreams a reality."

Naruto remained quiet, his mouth opening into a o-shape. A dozen of seconds passed in utter silence before he finally uttered a single word. "Dreams?"

Despite her earlier confidence in the conversation, Reika could not help but blush at the question, barely believing herself for confessing that out loud. "W-well, you'll just have to wait and see," she replied, trying to play if off with pursed lips and flickering eyes.

He sent her way a gaze filled with curiosity but still decided to give up on the matter. His lips bent upward. "Well.. what about that shower then ?" he asked, eager.

**** XoX ****

It was just past midday and Naruto was on the point of closing Gama Candy's store for a well-deserved lunch. The morning had been a quiet one, few customers and few baking necessary. Kato would come to help him and make the deliveries in the late afternoon after his class. Reika was practically living here by now, and the blond was thinking about proposing her to move in. His place was nearer from her school and bigger than her own so the only thing left was for him to ask her. Essentially, he was having a good day.

'Dind ding'. The bell rang.

Blue eyes instantly travelled to the door, ready to deal with perhaps his last customer of the morning. However, when his gaze landed on the duo of newcomers, the words were automatically stifled inside his throat.

The girl, he was quite familiar with as she was one of his longest customer here in Shinjuku. Chiaki. High school student, approximately Reika's age, not very talkative but with a sweet tooth for everything made of chocolate. She reminded him of a proud but ready to pounce feline.

The guy… his appearance only served as warning bells for the ninja. Long blond hair, a nice suit and calculative narrowed eyes. 'Top Dog', one of the four guys who had appeared during his first Gantz' mission, killing everyone in their sight. He was also the only one who had managed to escape the shinobi. The cheek he had marked with a long scar was strangely white and immaculate… a consequence of some kind of advanced regeneration perhaps ? He would be sure to remove the entire head if he had to deal with him once again.

In any case, the Uzumaki immediately reached for a kunai via a seal on his wrist. He was not going to attack just yet but his eyes never left the advancing duo.

Chiaki was walking just behind 'Top Dog', matching his every step with an emotionless face. They stopped in the middle of the store. The man eyed left and right, no doubt observing every little thing that could be used in the room in case a fight erupted.

"So", the monster in human's skin spoke, not in the least intimidated to face the one who had previously dealt with a team of his best subordinates. "A candy shop's owner, really? I'm disappointed… Mr Naruto Uzumaki right?"

The ninja's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You wouldn't say that if you were to try my pastries." His gaze travelled to the door, sensing the trio of men who were encircling the building and ready to intervene. "Chiaki-san…" he started. "I have to say, I am surprised by the kind of person you are acquainted with." He tried to extend his senses and perceive something but failed in detecting anything remotely special coming from her. Honestly speaking, he could not even differentiate 'Top Dog' from a regular human except for his way of moving around and filling the zone with his presence. Perhaps Sennin Modo would grant him the necessary sensor's ability but there was no time to reach it here. His new method to reach Sage Mode even with the lack of natural energy in the atmosphere was at least as time-consuming as the one he had used from his original world.

"My name is Hikawa", 'Top Dog' introduced himself, apparently quite put out for having been ignored. "I came here to make you an offer, Mr Uzumaki. I sincerely hope that you'll hear me out."

The blond's attention focused on the man. "You have three agents waiting outside, each one carrying weaponry I'm sure is considered illegal here in Japan. Plus, last time I saw you, we were at each other throat. You killed some of mine, I erased yours." He paused, his tone perfectly leveled but still carrying an unveiled threat. "Are you sure you came here just for a talk?"

The vampire blinked, but after a few seconds, a thin grin stretched his sparkling lips. "You managed to detect my men? You're a good sensor as well, then. Or is it instinct ?" The question was left in the open for no more than a couple of seconds. "Perhaps coming here could prove even more fruitful than I first expected." He sighed. "The Hunters' group you're a part of… I dealt with many of them before. However, it was the first time I encountered one as powerful as you. So powerful in fact, that it made me think."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked without dropping a hint of his focus.

"I would like to offer you a deal. A… beneficial partnership if you'd like, based on a few simple conditions." He marked a pause, gauging his interlocutor's reaction. After receiving only silence, Hikawa carried on his explanation. "Our people are often referred as vampires. We nurture connections with other non-human creatures, or at least the most powerful and cognitive of them. We get no interest in destroying each other you see, so we agreed on a non-aggression pact. You Hunters were our mutual enemies so it was easy in agreeing on dealing with you the way we saw fit." He marked a pause, gauging his interlocutor's reaction without much success. Two could play the game of the hard to read face after all. "However, recent events made me realize that those arrangements needed to be adjusted".

Naruto pondered on that last sentence for a few instants but it was not hard to reach the eventual conclusion. "You are afraid."

Hikawa shrugged his shoulders. "I would not say that per say but perhaps we vampires could find a better deal. We hold no love for the other monsters so breaking our fragile alliance wouldn't be an hindrance. Now that my allies might not be the strongest creatures around here, we vampires need to adapt. I protect my race first and foremost."

"… What do you propose?" The shinobi inquired after a full minute of consideration. There would be no harm in hearing him out.

The vampire's leader displayed a pleased smile. "I am willing to share information on the other monsters in order for you Hunters to have an easier time dealing with them. In exchange, you'll stay out of our business".

Naruto's forehead furrowed. "I'm afraid it is far from enough. I'd ask for humans to be free from your hunt. As long as you'd prey on them, you'll have to deal with me and my team". He paused, allowing a time for his words to sink. "Plus, for what you're telling me, I doubt we are the only teams of Hunters going after monsters. I only know about my own group. I get absolutely no leverage on the others, as I'm not even sure of the reason why I am a part of this entire business. In the end, I can't offer you the deal you want".

Silence befell. Hikawa showed an irritated face, even if he was clearly trying to hide it behind his clenching traits. "I don't care about the other Hunters. I only care about you. The vampires won't hunt you for as long as you do not seek us out. We won't look out for the others Hunters either but we will fight back if they come after us." He marked a brief pause, aware that he had only approached one part of the problem. "On the matter of the humans we hunt... I could promise you that we will try to be more selective. You clearly care about your team, and perhaps about your race as a whole, but you have to admit that many humans are sometimes just monsters wearing human skin. Hunting only those ones plus the blood packs that we are already stealing from various hospitals... here, we could have a deal."

Naruto cast a glance around, noticing the shocked expression on Chiaki's face. For what he could understand from the man that was Hikawa, he probably was not the type to make compromises. The terms here were much more to his advantage than previously and if Hikawa was making such claims, he probably controlled with an iron hand's the members of his entire species. Plus, information about monsters, and possibly about what exactly was going on would certainly be welcome.

"This deal... I can agree with those conditions," he finally answered.

"There is one prime requirement however," Hikawa sharply cut him before he could utter another word. "During your next mission, you'll certainly face my current partner. He is one of the leaders of the monsters here in Japan, working on a very different level than every other creature you could have faced until now". He looked at Naruto with an unwavering gaze and finally delivered his final condition. "You'll have to take him down, him and his men. We won't begin our partnership for as long as he's still breathing."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. An assurance against one of his current ally ? 'Top Dog' certainly did not avert his eyes from the prize. Thankfully, he had little issue with this condition. If he was unable to take down this powerful monster, it was meaningless to even considerate a possible association with Hikawa.

"You have your deal," the blond simply replied, sealing fate for better or worse.

**** XoX ****

It was Saturday afternoon and after a long morning of labor, Naruto finally entered his week-end. The ninja was on a happy cloud and this time, nothing would come to ruin it. Reika had moved in one week ago after he offered her. He had helped her pack her stuff the previous week-end and she had even started to occasionally help him in the bakery.

The Team had held a meeting the previous evening and things had gone pretty smoothly. Ayaka, the new girl in the group, had found help with her family and had even started to bond with Inaba in particular. The blond ignored if they were an item and he certainly did not want to intrude in those sort of things but the air around them had certainly changed. It had been three weeks since the mission and he was glad to see that the girl had settled down somewhat.

This afternoon, he and Reika were going to the aquarium with some of the others. Sakurai and his girlfriend, Sakata, Suzuki and even Kaze would join them there. The others had declined, having other plans for the day, but he was glad to see that their group shared such bonds.

"Hello Sunshine," Reika greeted him with a deep kiss when he made his way upstairs to his apartment. She had been preparing lunch while he had been busy closing the store downstairs. They had been around each other not twenty minutes ago but a hug from his girlfriend was always welcome.

"Hello beautiful," he replied on the same tone of voice before embracing her back. Reika had become addicted to hugs and kisses, which was far from being disagreeable most of the time. He was aware that she had some sort of heroship toward him but, thankfully, her whole behavior and feelings were much more complex. In fact, he had grown used to dating her.

They ate quickly, a simple omelet with fried vegetables, before gearing up and leaving for the aquarium in Shinagawa in the South of Tokyo. The metro was crowded but they finally managed to arrive just in time. The others were calmly waiting for them at the entrance.

"Everyone !" Naruto greeted with a wave of the hand and a brilliant smile. Reika imitated him and they immediately made their way to grab tickets.

"You're Tonkotsu, right ?" the shinobi asked while waiting in the line. He had already seen the girl once when she came into his store with Sakurai but it had been more than a month since then.

The adorable girl who was hanging at Sakurai's arm smiled in response. "That's right, good memory. And you, I could not forget that your name is Naruto even if I tried with how often Sakurai talks about you !"

The blond raised a curious eyebrow in the psychic's direction but the aforementioned plainly avoided his gaze. Suzuki let out a short laugh on the side. "Oh ? Nothing bad I hope."

She giggled. "No, nothing of the sort. I swear, if he and I weren't dating, I would think that he was ga..."

She did not finish her sentence, Sakurai blocking her mouth with his own hand. Sadly for him, it was not hard to guess. Therefore, Naruto proceeded in teasing the young psychic the entire time they waited in the line, including Sakata as a third potential romantic interest and Reika as the jealous girlfriend, all on the tone of joking and teasing. Sakurai's face remained red the whole time, which he proceeded to hide under the hood of his jacket for a good part of the discussion.

They finally paid for their tickets and entered inside the large building. They leisurely made their way through the numerous rooms, from the corridors built under the water to the penguins and seals. They were lucky to visit the place during this sunny day as a large part of the visit was in a park in open-air.

"This one looks like you Kaze-san," Sakurai commented humorously while pointing at a tall and unmoving penguin whose gaze was focused on a non-descriptive rock.

"They must feel trapped inside this small bowl," Tonkotsu indicated toward a couple of lobsters.

"It says here that they can generate up to 800 volts. Not enough to kill a normal human then," Kaze commented while eying at the electric eels, the only animals thus far that had managed to draw his attention. His focused gaze was a little worrying though and the little kids around quickly parted away from the giant man.

"I loved coming here with my wife when she was still alive to see those," Suzuki declared solemnly in front of an aquarium immersed in darkness but containing many fluorescent corals. The lights emitted beautiful glows of red, blue and green.

"Don't they move sometimes ?" Wondered Sakata while eying at the seals basking under the sun in an open-air basin.

"This is amazing," Reika marveled while passing inside the corridors whose ceiling and sidewalls were one extensive aquarium.

They concluded their visit with the Dolphin's show. The pool was a little small but the spectacle still attractive.

"Don't you like dolphins ?" Reika asked her boyfriend while they were watching the display.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I do. It's just, I don't really like seeing imprisoned animals. The show is still impressive though." But compared to the animals he had been familiar with, particularly the summons he had known in his original world, it was a bit of a letdown. He did not particularly care either way, he had come here more for the company than the actual place. It had been his first time visiting an aquarium so here was a positive point at least.

They left the place and found a restaurant nearby where they all shared an early dinner. After a couple of hours discussing and debating about nothing and everything, they parted ways and went back home.

It had been a very good day no matter what could be said.

It was in the middle of the following week that they were brought back to the Room and right in front of Gantz.

**** XoX ****

End of Chapter

**** XoX ****

Author's Note ; 

I hope the lemon pleased you. I wrote it with Reika's personality in mind mostly. Indeed, her feelings are a mix of love and devotion based on how she is portrayed in the manga. Plus, and let's say it clearly, she can be quite perverted and act accordingly with the one she is in love with. In conclusion, Naruto basically struck gold with her. He is for his part more passive than her but he will gain confidence along the way on the matter of physical interactions.

The Vampires had made their first move. Hikawa brought a deal to Naruto, we will see what actually happens in the future chapters.

Concerning the last part at the aquarium, it had been an idea that simply popped inside my mind. I never went to that aquarium in Japan so everything is based on the few research I made. Still, it should be pretty accurate. I wanted to make it a light ending as well as a bonding moment for the team.

The next chapter is the mission against the Oni Alien. As the first very serious monster that appears in the manga, I promise you, the mission will be hot. I will probably write it in two chapters.

See you.


End file.
